Osmosis

• What is osmosis?

  diffusion of water from a dilute solution to a concentrated solution through a partially permeable membrane
• If 2 solutions have the same concentrations they are Isotonic.
• The solution that is more concentrated is Hypertonic.
• The solution that is more dilute is Hypotonic.
• Animal cells surrounded by a hypotonic solution will swell & possibly burst because water moves into the cell by osmosis.
• If the solution around animal cells is hypertonic then water moves out of the cell and the cell shrinks.
• Animals need complex mechanisms to control the concentration of the solutions around their cells to avoid bursting or shrinking.