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The process of osmosis over a semipermeable membrane.The blue dots represent particles driving the osmotic gradient. Osmosis (/ ɒ z ˈ m oʊ s ɪ s /, US also / ɒ s-/) [1] is the spontaneous net movement or diffusion of solvent molecules through a selectively-permeable membrane from a region of high water potential (region of lower solute concentration) to a region of low water potential ...
Osmolarity is affected by changes in water content, as well as temperature and pressure. In contrast, osmolality is independent of temperature and pressure. For a given solution, osmolarity is slightly less than osmolality, because the total solvent weight (the divisor used for osmolality) excludes the weight of any solutes, whereas the total ...
Osmotic pressure is the basis of filtering ("reverse osmosis"), a process commonly used in water purification. The water to be purified is placed in a chamber and put under an amount of pressure greater than the osmotic pressure exerted by the water and the solutes dissolved in it.
Osmotic power, salinity gradient power or blue energy is the energy available from the difference in the salt concentration between seawater and river water.Two practical methods for this are reverse electrodialysis (RED) and pressure retarded osmosis (PRO).
Penetrating solutes can diffuse through the cell membrane, causing momentary changes in cell volume as the solutes "pull" water molecules with them. Non-penetrating solutes cannot cross the cell membrane; therefore, the movement of water across the cell membrane (i.e., osmosis ) must occur for the solutions to reach equilibrium .
Brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO) is the desalination of water with less salt than seawater, usually from river estuaries or saline wells. The process is substantially the same as SWRO, but requires lower pressures and less energy. [1] Up to 80% of the feed water input can be recovered as fresh water, depending on feed salinity.
For example, water intoxication (which results in hyponatremia), the process of consuming too much water too quickly, can be fatal. Deficits to body water result in volume contraction and dehydration. Diarrhea is a threat to both body water volume and electrolyte levels, which is why diseases that cause diarrhea are great threats to fluid balance.
Osmoregulation is the active regulation of the osmotic pressure of an organism's body fluids, detected by osmoreceptors, to maintain the homeostasis of the organism's water content; that is, it maintains the fluid balance and the concentration of electrolytes (salts in solution which in this case is represented by body fluid) to keep the body fluids from becoming too diluted or concentrated.