If you put two liquids or gases next to each other, even if they are totally still they will mix with one another slowly

Cell membrane; just passing through! c02/sci/life/cell/membraneweb/assets/tdc02_ int_membraneweb/tdc02_int_membraneweb _swf.html c02/sci/life/cell/membraneweb/assets/tdc02_ int_membraneweb/tdc02_int_membraneweb _swf.html Animation of cell transport through membrane.

Diffusion the molecules that make it up are bouncing around. The hotter, the more bouncing. over time the molecules bounce around and mix.

Diffusion This mixing is very slow and takes a long time, but if you leave the two gases next to each other for long enough they will mix perfectly. This effect is called diffusion and is why balloons go down slowly and how oxygen gets from your blood into your cells among many other processes.

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Osmosis utorials/Flash/Osmosis_Animation.htm utorials/Flash/Osmosis_Animation.htm

Two containers of equal volume are separated by a membrane that allows free passage of water, but totally restricts passage of solute molecules

water flow through a semi-permeable membrane that blocks the transport of salts or other solutes through it.

The key to remember about osmosis is that water flows from the solution with the lower solute concentration into the solution with higher solute concentration

Osmosis reason it is important is that all living cells are covered with these materials which will let water through but not salt or sugars if you stay in a bath too long water moves into your skin and your fingers go all wrinklyyour fingers go all wrinkly if you go swimming in the sea and get covered with salt, you get really thirsty as the water is sucked out of you by the salt and osmosis

The Three Little Cranberries In order to remember the different states important in osmosis, consider the following "fairytale": The first little cranberry, named Hypertonic, stayed out in the sun too long. He lost all the water from inside his little red body and became shrunken and wrinkled. His body became plasmolyzed. The second little cranberry, named Hypotonic, fell asleep soaking in the hot- tub. When he woke up his body had absorbed a lot of water and he was fat and his skin was very tight, ready to burst. His body became turgid. The third little cranberry, Isotonic, was smart. He stayed inside all day and studied his science textbook. His body remained flaccid. This isn't an exact match to what happens in osmosis, but it will give you a visual hook to remember the results on a cell immersed in each type of medium.

Osmosis The natural tendency for water to spontaneously pass through a semipermeable membrane separating two solutions of different concentrations (strengths). The water will naturally pass from the weaker (less concentrated) solution containing fewer particles of dissolved substance to the stronger (more concentrated) solution containing more particles of a dissolved substance. The natural osmosis causes the stronger solution to become more diluted, and tends to equalize the strength of the solutions on both sides of the membrane.