8/13/2019 Osmosis -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia

Osmosis
Osmosis, the spontaneous passage or diffusion of water or other solvents through a
semipermeable membrane (one that blocks the passage of dissolved substances—i.e.,
solutes). The process, important in biology, was rst thoroughly studied in 1877 by a German
plant physiologist, Wilhelm Pfeffer. Earlier workers had made less accurate studies of leaky
membranes (e.g., animal bladders) and the passage through them in opposite directions of
water and escaping substances. The general term osmose (now osmosis) was introduced in
1854 by a British chemist, Thomas Graham.

If a solution is separated from the pure solvent by a

An example of osmosis occurs when a
sugar solution and water, top, are separated
by a semipermeable membrane. The
solution's large sugar molecules cannot
pass through the membrane into the water.
Small water molecules move through the
membrane until equilibrium is established,
bottom.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
membrane that is permeable to the solvent but not the
solute, the solution will tend to become more dilute by
absorbing solvent through the membrane. This process
can be stopped by increasing the pressure on the
solution by a speci c amount, called the osmotic
pressure. The Dutch-born chemist Jacobus Henricus
van’t Hoff showed in 1886 that, if the solute is so dilute
that its partial vapour pressure above the solution obeys
Henry’s law (i.e., is proportional to its concentration in the
solution), then osmotic pressure varies with
concentration and temperature approximately as it
would if the solute were a gas occupying the same
volume. This relation led to equations for determining
molecular weights of solutes in dilute solutions through
effects on the freezing point, boiling point, or vapour
pressure of the solvent.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated
by Adam Augustyn, Managing Editor.

https://www.britannica.com/print/article/434057 1/2
8/13/2019 Osmosis -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia

CITATION INFORMATION
ARTICLE TITLE: Osmosis
WEBSITE NAME: Encyclopaedia Britannica
PUBLISHER: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
DATE PUBLISHED: 01 March 2019
URL: https://www.britannica.com/science/osmosis
ACCESS DATE: August 12, 2019

https://www.britannica.com/print/article/434057 2/2