Osmosis

• Osmosis

  Osmosis is the diffusion of water from a dilute solution to a concentrated solution through a partially permeable membrane
• Effects on animal cells

  • Cytoplasm is relatively a concentrated solution - contains relatively low concentration of water
  • Animal cell - osmosis causes cell to expand, and could burst
  • If an animal cell is placed in a very concentrated solution, water will move out of the cell - causing the cell to shrink
• Effects on plant cells

  • Placing a plant cell in water will cause it to expand
  • Cell wall prevents plant cell from bursting - cell becomes swollen instead
  • Placing a plant cell into a concentrated solution - water will move out by osmosis - this will cause the cell to shrink