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Osmotic pressure is the minimum pressure which needs to be applied to a solution to prevent the inward flow of its pure solvent across a semipermeable membrane.[1] It is also defined as the measure of the tendency of a solution to take in its pure solvent by osmosis. Potential osmotic pressure is the maximum osmotic pressure that could develop in a solution if it were separated from its pure solvent by a semipermeable membrane.
Osmosis occurs when two solutions containing different concentrations of solute are separated by a selectively permeable membrane. Solvent molecules pass preferentially through the membrane from the low-concentration solution to the solution with higher solute concentration. The transfer of solvent molecules will continue until equilibrium is attained.[1][2]
- ^ a b Voet D, Aadil J, Pratt CW (2001). Fundamentals of Biochemistry (Rev. ed.). New York: Wiley. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-471-41759-0.
- ^ Atkins PW, de Paula J (2010). "Section 5.5 (e)". Physical Chemistry (9th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-954337-3.