Example 1.10

Example . There are many phenomena which we observe in nature or at home. For example, raw mangoes shrivel when pickled in brine (salt water); wilted flowers revive when placed in fresh water, blood cells collapse when suspended in saline water, etc. If we look into these processes we find one thing common in all, that is, all these substances are bound by membranes. These membranes can be of animal or vegetable origin and these occur naturally such as pig’s bladder or parchment or can be synthetic such as cellophane. These membranes appear to be continuous sheets or films, yet they contain a network of submicroscopic holes or pores. Small solvent . . Osmosis and Osmotic Pressure molecules, like water, can pass through these holes but the passage of bigger molecules like solute is hindered. Membranes having this kind of properties are known as semipermeable membranes (SPM). Assume that only solvent molecules can pass through these semi- permeable membranes. If this membrane is placed between the solvent and solution as shown in Fig. . , the solvent molecules will flow through the membrane from pure solvent to the solution. This process of flow of the solvent is called osmosis . The flow will continue till the equilibrium is attained. The flow of the solvent from its side to solution side across a semipermeable membrane can be stopped if some extra pressure is applied on the solution. This pressure that just stops the flow of solvent is called osmotic pressure of the solution. The flow of solvent from dilute solution to the concentrated solution across a semipermeable membrane is due to osmosis. The important point to be kept in mind is that solvent molecules always flow from lower concentration to higher concentration of solution. The osmotic pressure has been found to depend on the concentration of the solution. The osmotic pressure of a solution is the excess pressure that must be applied to a solution to prevent osmosis, i.e., to stop the passage of solvent molecules through a semipermeable membrane into the solution. This is illustrated in Fig. . . Osmotic pressure is