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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 and tonicity are related but distinct concepts. Thus, the terms ending in -osmotic (isosmotic, hyperosmotic, hypoosmotic) are not synonymous with the terms ending in -tonic (isotonic, hypertonic, hypotonic). The terms are related in that they both compare the solute concentrations of two solutions separated by a membrane.
In chemical biology, tonicity is a measure of the effective osmotic pressure gradient; the water potential of two solutions separated by a partially-permeable cell membrane. Tonicity depends on the relative concentration of selective membrane-impermeable solutes across a cell membrane which determine the direction and extent of osmotic flux .
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.
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.
Turgor pressure within cells is regulated by osmosis and this also causes the cell wall to expand during growth. Along with size, rigidity of the cell is also caused by turgor pressure; a lower pressure results in a wilted cell or plant structure (i.e. leaf, stalk). One mechanism in plants that regulate turgor pressure is the cell's ...
Plasmolysis is the process in which cells lose water in a hypertonic solution. The reverse process, deplasmolysis or cytolysis, can occur if the cell is in a hypotonic solution resulting in a lower external osmotic pressure and a net flow of water into the cell.
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).