Naked Science Forum

General Science => General Science => Topic started by: hamza on 21/07/2010 18:25:02

Title: What drives osmosis?
Post by: hamza on 21/07/2010 18:25:02

Everyone knows that water tends to move to a more osmolar environment where solute concentration is higher. We reason that water moved via osmosis because it had to equilibriate the osmolarity. My question is...

WHAT CAUSES WATER TO DO SO? WHAT IS IN IT THAT CAUSES IT TO MOVE ACROSS A CONCENTRATION GRADIENT? WHAT IS THAT INNATE ABILITY CALLED?


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Title: Re: What drives osmosis?
Post by: Joe L. Ogan on 21/07/2010 23:48:41

Does water go through the process of osmosis because it travels from lower specific gravity to higher specific gravity?  Thanks for comments.  Joe L. Ogan

Title: What drives osmosis?
Post by: mudd1 on 24/07/2010 22:23:54

It's called Brownian motion. All molecules with a temperature above absolute zero just move in a straight line until they hit something. It's called heat. So imagine a box with balls in it to represent molecules and you have more blue balls in the left half and more red balls towards the right half to represent your gradient. You then shake the box to simulate the Brownian motion. The more you shake the less gradient will remain. Not by some inert force of the red balls to move to the side with more blue balls but just by statistics.

Title: What drives osmosis?
Post by: Joe L. Ogan on 25/07/2010 00:39:21

The process of Osmosis, to me, appears both confusing and contradictory.  Even the definition in the dictionary is confusing.  I thought I understood it but it appears that is not true.  Can anyone give a clear cut definition of the process of Osmosis?  Thanks for comments.  Joe L. Ogan