osmosis

• Water moves from an area of low solute concentration (high water potential) to an area of high solute concentration (low water potential).
• In plant cells, osmosis can cause them to swell or shrink depending on their environment.
• The movement of water is driven by the difference in water potential between two areas.
• Plant cells have cell walls that prevent them from bursting when they take up too much water.
• If the outside solution is more concentrated than the inside solution, water will move out of the cell by osmosis until equilibrium is reached.
• When plants are placed in distilled water with no dissolved substances, they will lose water due to osmosis until equilibrium is reached.