Osmosis and Diffusion

Diffusion

Blausen 0315 Diffusion

Concentrated dye diffuses along the concentration gradient until reaching equilibrium (no net movement).

Diffusion is the net movement of a substance from high concentration to low concentration. This difference in concentration is referred to as a concentration gradient. This movement does not require any external energy, but uses the free energy intrinsic to the system.

Osmosis

Osmosis is a special case of diffusion. Instead of observing the net change in solute, osmosis follows the net movement of solvent across a semipermeable membrane. Since a semi-permeable membrane permits specific things to pass through, some solutes are partitioned.

Osmose en

A semi-permeable membrane allows the solvent to pass but not this red salt molecule. The water moves along the concentration gradient (of water) . This movement of water causes an osmotic pressure.

A cell lacking a cell wall is affected greatly by the tonicity of the environment. In a hypertonic solution where the concentration of dissolved solute is high, water will be drawn out of the cell. In a hypotonic solution where the concentration of dissolved solute is lower than the interior of the cell, the cell will be under great osmotic pressure from the environmental water moving in and can rupture.Osmotic pressure on blood cells diagram

Plants have rigid cell walls composed of cellulose. These cell walls permit for maintenance of cellular integrity when the external environment is hypotonic (less dissolved substances). In this situation, the water moves into the cell. Without the cell wall, the cell would burst open from the excessive water pressure entering the cell. This state of swelling is referred to as turgid, resulting from turgor pressure.

Turgor pressure on plant cells diagram

Cell walls of a plant retain the shape of the cell despite the state of external tonicity.


When the exterior environment is hypertonic , (greater amount of dissolved substances), the reverse condition occurs whereby the cellular fluid exiting the cell reduces the size of the cytoplasm. This condition is referred to as plasmolysis