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Hypertonic, Hypotonic and Isotonic Solutions!

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No matter how relaxed you are, the internal workings of your body are complicated and active. Your body relies on energy to perform a complex cocktail of chemical reactions in your digestive system and throughout your body. But because the body needs to conserve energy, it frequently relies on the low-energy strategy of osmosis to aid in digestion.

What Is Osmosis?

If you've ever used a paper towel to sop up water, you've witnessed osmosis in action: the tendency of water and other solvents to move from an area with high concentration of the substance to an area with lower concentration. Osmosis typically continues until the balance between the two locations is even. This is why your paper towel becomes less absorbent as it sucks up water.

What Does Osmosis Do?

In the digestive system, osmosis plays a key role in nutrient absorption. After your digestive system has broken down food using mechanical and chemical processes, your body is left with the key nutrients it needs to survive. Osmosis allows your body to absorb these nutrients into the intestines and individual cells. The process of active transport through the blood then distributes the nutrients to the locations where they are needed.

Where Does It Happen?

Osmosis occurs in both the small and large intestines, with the majority of osmosis occurring in the large intestine. As your body processes food, it moves from the esophagus to the stomach and then to the small intestine. While there, your body absorbs important nutrients via osmosis. As food leaves the small intestine, it travels to the large intestine, and some osmosis can occur here as well.

Other Forms of Digestion

Osmosis is a form of passive transport, not requiring any special effort or energy expenditure from your body. Active transport mechanisms do require energy, and directly move food and nutrients from one location to another. These mechanisms include mechanical efforts such as chewing and the digestive contractions called peristalsis. Chemical transportation is another form of active transport. Some nutrients or mechanical actions signal the release of chemicals that help to break down food and move it to a specific location.

About the Author

Van Thompson is an attorney and writer. A former martial arts instructor, he holds bachelor's degrees in music and computer science from Westchester University, and a juris doctor from Georgia State University. He is the recipient of numerous writing awards, including a 2009 CALI Legal Writing Award.

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How Does Osmosis Occur in the Digestive System?

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No matter how relaxed you are, the internal workings of your body are complicated and active. Your body relies on energy to perform a complex cocktail of chemical reactions in your digestive system and throughout your body. But because the body needs to conserve energy, it frequently relies on the low-energy strategy ...

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Osmosis allows water to move in and out of the cells when needed. If the concentration outside is high then water will move into the cell. Similarly, if the concentration inside the cell is higher, then water will move from inside the cell to outside the cell.

Osmosis can cause some serious problems in animal cells. If the solution outside the cells is very dilute them water will enter the cytoplasm and the cells may swell and burst.

On the other hand of the cytoplasm is very diluted water will move out of the cell and the cell will shrivel up. Organisms whether on land or in the sea work hard to keep their body fluids concentrations from changing very much because it can have drastic consequences.

Jellyfish the concentration outside is the same as inside so there is no movement of water molecules.

Many insects have a tough waterproof outer layer that prevents water loss from the body's surface. They can have breathing holes called spiracles that close up when not needed.

Most multicellular organisms have systems that keep the concentration of their fluids about the same. In human being the kidney plays a major role in maintaining the fluid concentration, a process called osmoregulation.

Osmosis in Plants

Plants rely on regulated osmosis to provide the necessary pressure to support their stem and leaves. Water moves into the plant cells by osmosis, making the cytoplasm swell and press against the plant cell walls. The pressure builds up until no more water can physically enter the cell. The cell is swollen and rigid. This state is known as turgor. The cell is said to be turgid and this keeps the stems and leaves upright.

If the fluid surrounding the cell becomes concentrated then water will leave the cells by osmosis. The vacuole shrinks and the cell becomes much less rigid, it is flaccid. If water continues to leave the cell, eventually the cytoplasm pulls away from the cell walls and it becomes plasmolysed. A process called plasmolysis.

Osmosis is important for moving water within the plant itself. Water moves into the root cells by osmosis across the cell membrane. The root has root hairs. Water enters through the cells that make up the root hairs firs. Water moves into the cells by osmosis.

The cells when water enters become dilute and hence water moves from that cell through the cell membrane to the next cell. The water moves from the root hair cells to the roots then to the xylem vessels and the transpiration stream.

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How osmosis take place in plants and animals

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Osmosis allows water to move in and out of the cells when needed. If the concentration outside is high then water will move into the cell. Similarly, if the concentration inside the cell is higher, then water will move from inside the cell to outside the cell.

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How Cells Get Rid of Wastes by Osmosis & Diffusion

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Diffusion is the random but directional movement of molecules from a place where there is a lot of them to a place where there are fewer. Osmosis is a special case of diffusion that refers to the ...

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No matter how relaxed you are, the internal workings of your body are complicated and active. Your body relies on energy to perform a complex cocktail of chemical reactions in your digestive system and throughout your body. But because the body needs to conserve energy, it frequently relies on the low-energy strategy of osmosis to aid in digestion.

What Is Osmosis?

If you've ever used a paper towel to sop up water, you've witnessed osmosis in action: the tendency of water and other solvents to move from an area with high concentration of the substance to an area with lower concentration. Osmosis typically continues until the balance between the two locations is even. This is why your paper towel becomes less absorbent as it sucks up water.

What Does Osmosis Do?

In the digestive system, osmosis plays a key role in nutrient absorption. After your digestive system has broken down food using mechanical and chemical processes, your body is left with the key nutrients it needs to survive. Osmosis allows your body to absorb these nutrients into the intestines and individual cells. The process of active transport through the blood then distributes the nutrients to the locations where they are needed.

Where Does It Happen?

Osmosis occurs in both the small and large intestines, with the majority of osmosis occurring in the large intestine. As your body processes food, it moves from the esophagus to the stomach and then to the small intestine. While there, your body absorbs important nutrients via osmosis. As food leaves the small intestine, it travels to the large intestine, and some osmosis can occur here as well.

Other Forms of Digestion

Osmosis is a form of passive transport, not requiring any special effort or energy expenditure from your body. Active transport mechanisms do require energy, and directly move food and nutrients from one location to another. These mechanisms include mechanical efforts such as chewing and the digestive contractions called peristalsis. Chemical transportation is another form of active transport. Some nutrients or mechanical actions signal the release of chemicals that help to break down food and move it to a specific location.

About the Author

Van Thompson is an attorney and writer. A former martial arts instructor, he holds bachelor's degrees in music and computer science from Westchester University, and a juris doctor from Georgia State University. He is the recipient of numerous writing awards, including a 2009 CALI Legal Writing Award.

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How Does Osmosis Occur in the Digestive System?

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No matter how relaxed you are, the internal workings of your body are complicated and active. Your body relies on energy to perform a complex cocktail of chemical reactions in your digestive system and throughout your body. But because the body needs to conserve energy, it frequently relies on the low-energy strategy of osmosis to aid in digestion.

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Real-life applications - Osmosis - Cell Behavior and Salt Water, Osmosis in Plants, Osmosis and Medicine

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Two illustrations involving salt water demonstrate how osmosis can produce disastrous effects in living things. If you put a carrot in salty water, the salt water will "draw" the water from inside the carrot-which, like the human body and most other forms of life, is mostly made up of water.