What is the osmotic pressure of 0.080M solution at 37.0°C?
Answers
Answer:
The term ‘osmosis’ refers to the movement of solvent molecules through a semipermeable membrane from a region where the solute concentration is low to a region where the solute concentration is high. Eventually, an equilibrium is established between the two sides of the semipermeable membrane (equal solute concentration on both sides of the semipermeable membrane).
Important note: The semipermeable membrane only allows the movement of solvent molecules through it – solute particles cannot pass through it.
If sufficient pressure is applied to the solution side of the semipermeable membrane, the process of osmosis is halted. The minimum amount of pressure required to nullify the process of osmosis is called osmotic pressure.
Osmotic Pressure
In the illustration provided above, it can be observed that the solvent molecules tend to pass through the semipermeable membrane into the solution side until the osmotic pressure (of the solution) is applied to the solution side.
What happens when Pressure of Higher Magnitude than the Osmotic Pressure is Applied to the Solution Side?
In such a scenario, the solvent molecules would start moving through the semipermeable membrane from the solution side (where the solute concentration is high) to the solvent side (where the solute concentration is low). This process is called reverse osmosis (click the hyperlink to learn more about it!).