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The process of osmosis over a semipermeable membrane.The blue dots represent particles driving the osmotic gradient. Osmosis (/ ɒ z ˈ m oʊ s ɪ s /, US also / ɒ s-/) [1] is the spontaneous net movement or diffusion of solvent molecules through a selectively-permeable membrane from a region of high water potential (region of lower solute concentration) to a region of low water potential ...
Osmoregulation is the active regulation of the osmotic pressure of an organism's body fluids, detected by osmoreceptors, to maintain the homeostasis of the organism's water content; that is, it maintains the fluid balance and the concentration of electrolytes (salts in solution which in this case is represented by body fluid) to keep the body fluids from becoming too diluted or concentrated.
A biological example of diffusion is the gas exchange that occurs during respiration within the human body. [7] Upon inhalation, oxygen is brought into the lungs and quickly diffuses across the membrane of alveoli and enters the circulatory system by diffusing across the membrane of the pulmonary capillaries. [8]
A phospholipid bilayer is an example of a biological semipermeable membrane. It consists of two parallel, opposite-facing layers of uniformly arranged phospholipids. Each phospholipid is made of one phosphate head and two fatty acid tails. [3] The plasma membrane that surrounds all biological cells is an example of a phospholipid bilayer. [2]
Osmosis in a U-shaped tube. Osmotic pressure is the minimum pressure which needs to be applied to a solution to prevent the inward flow of its pure solvent across a semipermeable membrane. [1] It is also defined as the measure of the tendency of a solution to take in its pure solvent by osmosis.
Throughout the body, dissolved compounds have an osmotic pressure. Because large plasma proteins cannot easily cross through the capillary walls, their effect on the osmotic pressure of the capillary interiors will, to some extent, balance out the tendency for fluid to leak out of the capillaries. In other words, the oncotic pressure tends to ...
Typical values for the viscosity of normal human plasma at 37 °C is 1.4 mN·s/m 2. [3] The viscosity of normal plasma varies with temperature in the same way as does that of its solvent water [ 4 ] ;a 3°C change in temperature in the physiological range (36.5°C to 39.5°C)reduces plasma viscosity by about 10%.
Effect of different solutions on red blood cells Micrographs of osmotic pressure on red blood cells. In chemical biology, tonicity is a measure of the effective osmotic pressure gradient; the water potential of two solutions separated by a partially-permeable cell membrane.