1

Osmosis is a special case of diffusion

Osmosis involves the diffusion of water

through a membrane

The membrane may be artificial and

non-living e.g. Cellophane

In biology, the important membrane is the

cell membrane
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Permeability
The membrane must allow water molecules
to diffuse through. It is permeable to water.
If a concentrated solution is separated from
a dilute solution by a suitable membrane,
water will pass from the dilute to the
concentrated solution.
In fact, water passes both ways but faster
from the dilute to the concentrated solution.
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Osmosis
water or concentrated
dilute solution solution level falls level rises

membrane
More water passes from ...until concentrations
dilute to concentrated ... become equal
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There are microscopic pores in the membrane.

Molecules below a certain size can diffuse

through the pores.

Water molecules can easily diffuse through

the pores.

In the next slides represents a water molecule

and represents a sugar molecule
 membrane 6
water sugar solution

There are as many water molecules on the right as

there are on the left but many of them are attached to
sugar molecules and are not free to move.
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Because there are more freely moving water molecules on

the left, more diffuse through the pores of the membrane from
left to right than from right to left.
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Next slide
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Because the membrane allows only molecules

of a certain size to diffuse through it, it is
called selectively permeable.

The cell membrane functions as a selectively

permeable membrane.

The cell sap and cytoplasm function as

fairly concentrated solutions.
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Scale of drawings

The scale of the following drawings is

greatly distorted.

Even if the cells were as large as they

appear on the screen, the molecules would
still be invisible particles
Osmosis in animal cells 11

so water diffuses into the cell

There is a greater concentration by osmosis
of free water molecules outside
and the cell swells up
the cell than inside
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If osmosis continued the animal cell would

burst
This would be bad news for animals

Consequently there are processes in the

animal’s body which control osmosis

Mainly, this is done by keeping the

concentration of body fluids outside the cell
the same as it is inside
Fresh water fish 14

Trout

In fresh water fish, the blood is more

concentrated than the surrounding water

As a result the fish takes in water by osmosis

Not so much through the skin, which is thick,

but through the gills which have a very thin
membrane
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Perch

The fish gets rid of the excess water by means of its kidneys

blood carries water kidneys expel

to kidneys excess water ...

gills absorb water

by osmosis heart ...in the form of
dilute urine
Sea water fish 15

Herring

Sea water is a more concentrated solution than the

fish’s blood. What will be the osmotic effect ?

A sea water fish will lose water by osmosis through

its gills.
The fish drinks sea water and the gills expel the
excess salt from the blood, so keeping its
concentration constant
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In a plant cell, the cell membrane acts as a
selectively permeable membrane
The cell wall is freely permeable to water

The vacuole contains a solution of salts and sugars

If there is water outside the cell, it will diffuse

by osmosis into the vacuole

The vacuole will expand, pushing the cytoplasm

outwards against the cell wall
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The cellulose cell wall cannot stretch, so the
vacuole cannot continue to expand

But the pressure of the vacuole against the cell

wall makes the cell very firm

A plant cell in this condition is said to be turgid

If all the cells in the plant are turgid, the plant will
be firm and upright and the leaves would be
expanded
Plant cells 18

cell wall vacuole cytoplasm and

cell membrane

The cell absorbs water ....but the cell wall stops the
by osmosis .... cell expanding any more
 Question 19

What did you notice about the colour of the cell

sap in the two cells?

Can you suggest an explanation for this?

Osmosis between cells 20

If the concentration of the cell sap is greater in one cell than

in its neighbour, water will pass by osmosis from the less
concentrated to the more concentrated.

cell sap more cell sap less

concentrated concentrated
Limp and turgid tissue 21

These cells are short of The cells have taken up

water; the tissue is limp and water by osmosis; the
the plant is wilting cells are turgid and the
tissue is firm
 (1) wilting 22
Busy Lizzie

(2) recovering (3) recovered

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In the growing regions of a plant, the cell walls

are
not inextensible but are still ‘plastic’
When the vacuole takes in water by osmosis it
expands, pushing out on the ‘plastic’ cell wall
and increasing the size of the cell.

Cell division at a growing point increases the

number of cells but cell expansion causes the
increase in size.
Cell division followed by cell expansion causes
growth
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Cell extension

1 2 3 4

1 The cell has just divided

2 Vacuoles start to form in one cell

3 The vacuoles absorb water by osmosis and start to extend

the cell

4 The vacuoles begin to join up and continue to absorb water

and extend the cell
 Growth in a shoot tip 25

cell division
these cells will divide continues

vacuoles
forming

cells absorb water

by osmosis and
expand
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Question 1
In osmosis, water will diffuse through a membrane

(a) From water to a concentrated solution

(b) From a concentrated solution to a dilute

solution

(c) From a dilute solution to a concentrated

solution

(d) From a dilute solution to a more

dilute solution
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Question 2
Which statements are correct ?

(a) The plant cell wall is permeable to water

(b) The plant cell wall is selectively permeable

(c) The cell membrane is selectively permeable

(d) The vacuole contains a solution of salts and

sugars
 Question 3 28
Cell sap

concentrated solution
a
dilute solution c
b
more dilute solution

Water will tend to move by osmosis Plant cells

(a) from b to a and c, and from c to a

(b) from c to a and b, and from a to b

(c) From a to b and c, and from c to b

(d) From c to b and a, and from b to c
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Question 4
Which statements are correct ?

(a) A fresh water fish tends to absorb water

by osmosis
(b) A sea water fish tends to absorb water
by osmosis
(c) A fresh water fish tends to lose water to
its surroundings
(d) A sea water fish tends to lose water to
its surroundings
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Answer

The colour intensity in the vacuole of the

left hand cell is greater than that in the right

This is because the uptake of water by

osmosis has diluted the cell sap in the
right hand cell
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Correct
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Incorrect