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For biology
and chemistry students Osmosis is the flow of a solvent
through a semipermeable membrane (as of a living cell) into a solution of
higher solute concentrations. Such process equalizes the concentrations of solute
on the two sides of the membrame (Webster's Collegiate Dictionary,
1995) In classic
demonstration, a vertical tube containing a sugar solution, with its lower
end closed off by a semipermeable membrane, is placed in a container of
water. The water passes through the membrane into the tube, and causes the
level of sugar solution in the tube to rise until the flow of water from the
tube of sugar solution equals the flow of water into the tube. The pressure
which causes such equality of flow is known as osmotic pressure.
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