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osmosis
Table of Contents
osmosis

Table of Contents
 * Introduction

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Home Science Physics Matter & Energy


OSMOSIS

chemical process
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Also known as: osmose
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: May 12, 2023 • Article History
Table of Contents
osmosis
See all media
Key People: Hugo von Mohl Henri Dutrochet Wilhelm Pfeffer Isidor Traube ...(Show
more) Related Topics: diffusion reverse osmosis solvent semipermeable membrane
osmotic pressure ...(Show more)
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osmosis, the spontaneous passage or diffusion of water or other solvents through
a semipermeable membrane (one that blocks the passage of dissolved
substances—i.e., solutes). The process, important in biology, was first
thoroughly studied in 1877 by a German plant physiologist, Wilhelm Pfeffer.
Earlier workers had made less accurate studies of leaky membranes (e.g., animal
bladders) and the passage through them in opposite directions of water and
escaping substances. The general term osmose (now osmosis) was introduced in
1854 by a British chemist, Thomas Graham.


Learn how plants use osmosis, facilitated diffusion, and active transport to
ingest water and mineral salts
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If a solution is separated from the pure solvent by a membrane that is permeable
to the solvent but not the solute, the solution will tend to become more dilute
by absorbing solvent through the membrane. This process can be stopped by
increasing the pressure on the solution by a specific amount, called the osmotic
pressure. The Dutch-born chemist Jacobus Henricus van ’t Hoff showed in 1886
that if the solute is so dilute that its partial vapour pressure above the
solution obeys Henry’s law (i.e., is proportional to its concentration in the
solution), then osmotic pressure varies with concentration and temperature
approximately as it would if the solute were a gas occupying the same volume.
This relation led to equations for determining molecular weights of solutes in
dilute solutions through effects on the freezing point, boiling point, or vapour
pressure of the solvent.

More From Britannica
chemical analysis: Osmosis
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised
and updated by Erik Gregersen.


solvent
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solvent

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Home Science Physics Matter & Energy


SOLVENT

chemistry
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and edit content received from contributors.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: May 30, 2023 • Article History
Table of Contents
Related Topics: alkali furfural osmosis levelling effect aprotic solvent
...(Show more)
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solvent, substance, ordinarily a liquid, in which other materials dissolve to
form a solution. Polar solvents (e.g., water) favour formation of ions; nonpolar
ones (e.g., hydrocarbons) do not. Solvents may be predominantly acidic,
predominantly basic, amphoteric (both), or aprotic (neither). Organic compounds
used as solvents include aromatic compounds and other hydrocarbons, alcohols,
esters, ethers, ketones, amines, and nitrated and halogenated hydrocarbons.
Their chief uses are as media for chemical syntheses, as industrial cleaners, in
extractive processes, in pharmaceuticals, in inks, and in paints, varnishes, and
lacquers.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised
and updated by Adam Augustyn.


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