osmotic pressure
Solvent's crossing urge
Osmotic pressure is the force that drives water across a semipermeable membrane toward a region of higher solute concentration.
It's what makes a wilted plant perk up when watered, and what keeps cells from bursting or shriveling.
In medicine and biology, osmotic pressure explains fluid balance: The osmotic pressure of blood must be carefully maintained.
Solutions with equal osmotic pressure are isotonic; those with higher or lower pressure are hypertonic or hypotonic.
Higher solute than reference
- tonicityOsmotic pressure difference
- saline solutionSalt dissolved in water
- dehydrationExcessive fluid loss
- rehydrationReplacing lost water
electrolyte balance · blood plasma · edema · water retention
Allowing partial passage
- soluteSubstance absorbed by solvent
- solventDissolving liquid or financially stable
- concentration gradientDifference in solute density
- osmometerGauges osmotic pressure
dissociation · ideal solution · activity coefficient · dialysis
Cellular fluid pressure
- cytolysisCell destruction by rupture
- cell membraneOuter layer of cytoplasm
- aquaporinsMembrane proteins transporting water
- flaccidityLack of firmness
turgidity · wilting · osmoregulation · vacuole · protoplast · crenation · lysis · hemolysis
Dissolved mineral concentration
- seawaterSalty ocean fluid
- brackishMildly salty water
- marineRelating to the sea
- estuaryTidal mixing zone
mangrove · freshwater · kidney function · salt marsh · tidal zone · osmoregulation
Extracting salt from seawater
- water purificationRendering liquid safe to drink
- food preservationProtecting edibles from rot
- dialysis machineDevice replacing kidney function
- fermentationMicrobial sugar conversion
hypertonic
Higher solute than reference
- tonicityOsmotic pressure difference
- saline solutionSalt dissolved in water
- dehydrationExcessive fluid loss
rehydration · electrolyte balance · blood plasma · edema · water retention
semipermeable
Allowing partial passage
- soluteSubstance absorbed by solvent
- solventDissolving liquid or financially stable
- concentration gradientDifference in solute density
osmometer · dissociation · ideal solution · activity coefficient · dialysis
turgor
Cellular fluid pressure
- cytolysisCell destruction by rupture
- cell membraneOuter layer of cytoplasm
- aquaporinsMembrane proteins transporting water
flaccidity · turgidity · wilting · osmoregulation · vacuole · protoplast · crenation · lysis · hemolysis · plant cell
salinity
Dissolved mineral concentration
estuary · mangrove · freshwater · kidney function · salt marsh · tidal zone · osmoregulation
desalination
Extracting salt from seawater
- water purificationRendering liquid safe to drink
- food preservationProtecting edibles from rot
- dialysis machineDevice replacing kidney function
fermentation · pickling · brining · curing · wastewater treatment
- pressureabsolute, psi, pascal, kilopascal, hectopascal
- Water Propertiessalinity, temperature, density, viscosity, pH
- Osmoregulationosmoregulation, water balance, electrolyte balance, tonicity, hypertonic
- osmosissemipermeable membrane, semipermeable, osmometer, osmoregulation, tonicity
- pressure physiologybaroreceptors
- salt biologyosmoregulation, compatible solutes, hypersaline, salt lakes, salt flats
osmotic pressurehydraulic pressure
Force transmitted through liquid
pressure, osmosis, osmotic, isotonic, hypotonic, osmotically