Chapter 2 Flashcards
(12 cards)
What is osmosis?
The passive diffusion of water across a semipermeable membrane.
When does osmosis occur?
When the membrane is impermeable to a particular solute.
What happens to achieve equilibrium in osmosis?
Water moves across the membrane.
How is the direction of osmosis determined?
By comparing total solute concentrations.
What does ‘hypo’ mean in relation to solute concentration?
Less.
What does ‘hyper’ mean in relation to solute concentration?
More.
In which direction does water move during osmosis?
To higher solute concentrations (hypertonic).
Define hypotonic solution.
A solution with less solute and more water.
What happens to a cell in a hypotonic solution?
Water enters by osmosis, causing the cell to swell and possibly burst.
Define hypertonic solution.
A solution with more solute and less water.
What happens to a cell in a hypertonic solution?
Water leaves the cell through osmosis, causing the cell to shrink and possibly undergo cell lysis.
Define isotonic solution.
Equal solute, equal water concentrations inside and outside the cell.
