Question
Question: “Osmosis is a special kind of diffusion”. Comment....
“Osmosis is a special kind of diffusion”. Comment.
Solution
Hint: Try to recall the definition of both of them with the help of suitable examples and then relate them with each other using their properties.
Complete step by step answer:
Osmosis is the movement of the water molecules from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration through a semipermeable membrane.
A semipermeable membrane is a membrane that allows only water to pass through and not the solute.
Diffusion is the process in which molecules of a substance move from the place of their higher concentration to the place of their lower concentration (no membrane is required). Thus diffusion through a semipermeable membrane is a special type of diffusion and it is termed osmosis. It is different from the diffusion of water through permeable membranes.
From all these statements we can conclude that “Osmosis is a special kind of diffusion”.
Additional information:
Diffusion happens in liquids and gases because their particles move randomly from place to place, as they have weak molecular interaction then solid.
Note: Examples of osmosis - Swelling up of a raisin on keeping in water, Earthworm dying on coming in contact with common salt, Shrinking of grapes kept in thick sugar syrup, Preserving pickles in salt.
Examples of diffusion - Aquatic animals using oxygen dissolved in water during respiration, Spreading of the smell of cake being baked throughout the house, Spreading of the virus on sneezing.