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S. Faubel and J. Topf2 Water, Where Are You?
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2Water, Where Are You?
The Fluid, Electrolyte and Acid-Base Companion
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The distribution of water among the three body water compartments (in-tracellular, interstitial and plasma compartments) is determined by twoforces:
osmotic pressure
and
hydrostatic pressure.
The balance of these forcesdetermines the amount of water in each compartment.Osmotic pressure is the force exerted by solutes.Hydrostatic pressure is the force exerted by water.
Movement of water
The amount of water in each body compart-ment is dependent on osmotic pressure and hydrostatic pressure.
INTRACELLULAR
COMPARTMENTEXTRACELLULAR
COMPARTMENT
INTERSTITIAL
COMPARTMENTPLASMA
COMPARTMENT
67%25%8%
________ _________ is the force exerted by solutes._________ ___________ is the force exerted by water.Osmotic pressureHydrostatic pressure
An understanding of osmotic pressure and hydrostatic pressure is helpful to understand thedistribution of intravenous fluids, discussed later in this chapter. Hydrostatic pressure andosmotic pressure are also primary components of Starling’s law which governs the move-ment of fluid between the interstitial and plasma compartments. Starling’s law is the subject(and title) of the next chapter.
S. Faubel and J. Topf2 Water, Where Are You?
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Imagine a beaker of saline with a semipermeable membrane dividing itin half. The membrane is permeable to water but not to solute. At equilib-rium, the concentration of solute is equal in both compartments. Water mol-ecules move back and forth across the membrane, but there is no
net
move-ment of water.Then imagine that a salt shaker comes along and adds solute to the com-partment on the right side of the beaker. The added solute causes the rightside to have a higher concentration (osmolality) than the other. Nature ab-hors a concentration gradient almost as much as a vacuum. Because solutecannot cross the membrane, water moves across to equalize the concentra-tions. The additional solute acts like a magnet to draw water into the com-partment with the higher concentration.The ability of a solute to cause the movement of water is
osmotic pres- sure
. Water always moves from an area of low solute concentration to anarea of high solute concentration.
Adding solute to a compartment increases the _________ of that compartment.Water will flow from an area of _____ (low/high) osmolalityto an area of ______ (low/high) osmolality.The ability of a solute to cause the movement of water is_________ __________.osmolalitylowhighosmotic pressure
Movement of water
Osmotic pressure causes the movementof water from an area of low to high concentration.
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equilibriumnew equilibriumaddition ofsolute
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