What is osmosis?
Answer
Osmosis is the movement of water across a selectively permeable membrane from an area of high water concentration (low solute concentration) to an area of low water concentration (high solute concentration).
In simple terms:
Water moves to where there is more dissolved stuff (solute).
Key points:
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It is a type of passive transport (no energy/ATP required)
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It only involves water molecules
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It occurs across the cell membrane
Example:
If a cell is placed in salty water (higher solute outside), water will move out of the cell, causing it to shrink.