Osmosis and Diffusion | How does osmosis work?
How does osmosis work?
When materials move into and out of a cell at equal rates, the cell is said to be balanced, or in dynamic equilibriumA situation in which substances are moving into and out of cell walls at an equal rate.. An isotonic solutionTwo solutions that have the same concentration of solute particles and therefore the same osmotic pressure. has a concentration of materials the same as that inside a cell. If a cell is placed in an isotonic solution, molecules will still move into and out of the cell, but the cell will be in dynamic equilibrium. If a substance is in lower concentration outside a cell than inside the cell, the substance will leave the cell through osmosis. Likewise, the substance will move into the cell if the situation is reversed.
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