Chapter 39.1, Problem 3SAQ

Summary Introduction

To determine:

In what way it is possible that there is no movement of water across the membrane even when the concentration of sodium is higher on one side of membrane than on the other side.

Concept introduction:

Osmosis refers to the movement of water from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration across a selectively permeable membrane. The movement of water across a cell membrane depends on the solute concentration present inside the cell relative to the outside. In addition to this, if more than one solute is present then the movement of water is driven by the difference in total solute concentration across the plasma membrane.