Osmotic Solution (Hypertonic, Hypotonic and Isotonic) Osmotic pressure and effect on cells.

Donna equilibrium

OSMOSIS

Osmosis is the spontaneous net movement of solvent molecules through a selectively permeable

membrane into a region of higher solute concentration, in the direction that tends to equalize the

solute concentrations on the two sides. It may also be used to describe a physical process in

which any solvent moves across a selectively permeable membrane (permeable to the solvent,

but not the solute) separating two solutions of different concentrations.

Osmosis can be made to do work. Osmotic pressure is defined as the external pressure required

to be applied so that there is no net movement of solvent across the membrane. Osmotic pressure

is a colligative property, meaning that the osmotic pressure depends on the molar concentration

of the solute but not on its identity.

Osmosis is a vital process in biological systems, as biological membranes are semi-permeable. In

general, these membranes are impermeable to large and polar molecules, such as ions, proteins,

and polysaccharides, while being permeable to non-polar or hydrophobic molecules like lipids as

well as to small molecules like oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and nitric oxide. Permeability

depends on solubility, charge, or chemistry, as well as solute size. Water molecules travel

through the plasma membrane, tonoplast membrane (vacuole) or protoplast by diffusing across

the phospholipid bilayer via aquaporins (small transmembrane proteins similar to those

responsible for facilitated diffusion and ion channels). Osmosis provides the primary means by

which water is transported into and out of cells. The turgor pressure of a cell is largely

maintained by osmosis across the cell membrane between the cell interior and its relatively

hypotonic environment.

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 Osmotic Solution (Hypertonic, Hypotonic and Isotonic) Osmotic pressure and effect on cells. Donna equilibrium

Figure 1: Diagram representing Osmosis; The process of osmosis over a semi-permeable

membrane. The blue dots represent particles driving the osmotic gradient.

Factors affecting Osmosis

1. Osmotic Pressure;

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 semi-permeable membrane. It is

also defined as the measure of the tendency of a solution to take in 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 semi-permeable 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.

Osmosis may be opposed by increasing the pressure in the region of high solute

concentration with respect to that in the low solute concentration region. The force per

unit area, or pressure, required to prevent the passage of water (or any other high-

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 Osmotic Solution (Hypertonic, Hypotonic and Isotonic) Osmotic pressure and effect on cells. Donna equilibrium

liquidity solution) through a selectively permeable membrane and into a solution of

greater concentration is equivalent to the osmotic pressure of the solution, or turgor.

Osmotic pressure is a colligative property, meaning that the property depends on the

concentration of the solute, but not on its content or chemical identity.

2. Osmotic Gradient:

The osmotic gradient is the difference in concentration between two solutions on either

side of a semi-permeable membrane, and is used to tell the difference in percentages of

the concentration of a specific particle dissolved in a solution. Usually the osmotic

gradient is used while comparing solutions that have a semi-permeable membrane

between them allowing water to diffuse between the two solutions, toward the hypertonic

solution (the solution with the higher concentration). Eventually, the force of the column

of water on the hypertonic side of the semi-permeable membrane will equal the force of

diffusion on the hypotonic (the side with a lesser concentration) side, creating

equilibrium. When equilibrium is reached, water continues to flow, but it flows both

ways in equal amounts as well as force, therefore stabilizing the solution.

TONICITY

Tonicity is a measure of the effective osmotic pressure gradient; the water potential of

two solutions separated by a semi-permeable cell membrane. In other words, tonicity is the

relative concentration of solutes dissolved in solution which determine the direction and extent

of diffusion. It is commonly used when describing the response of cells immersed in an external

solution. Unlike osmotic pressure, tonicity is influenced only by solutes that cannot cross the

membrane, as only these exert an effective osmotic pressure. Solutes able to freely cross the

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 Osmotic Solution (Hypertonic, Hypotonic and Isotonic) Osmotic pressure and effect on cells. Donna equilibrium

membrane do not affect tonicity because they will always equilibrate with equal concentrations

on both sides of the membrane without net solvent movement. It is also a factor affecting

imbibition.

There are three classifications of tonicity that one solution can have relative to another:

hypertonic, hypotonic, and isotonic.

1. Hypertonic Solution:

A hypertonic solution has a greater concentration of solutes than another solution. In

biology, the tonicity of a solution usually refers to its solute concentration relative to that of

another solution on the opposite side of a cell membrane; a solution outside of a cell is called

hypertonic if it has a greater concentration of solutes than the cytosol inside the cell. When a

cell is immersed in a hypertonic solution, osmotic pressure tends to force water to flow out of

the cell in order to balance the concentrations of the solutes on either side of the cell

membrane. The cytosol is conversely categorized as hypotonic, opposite of the outer

solution. When plant cells are in a hypertonic solution, the flexible cell membrane pulls away

from the rigid cell wall, but remains joined to the cell wall at points called plasmodesmata.

The cells often take on the appearance of a pincushion, and the plasmodesmata almost cease

to function because they become constricted, a condition known as plasmolysis. In plant cells

the terms isotonic, hypotonic and hypertonic cannot strictly be used accurately because the

pressure exerted by the cell wall significantly affects the osmotic equilibrium point. Some

organisms have evolved intricate methods of circumventing hypertonicity. For example,

saltwater is hypertonic to the fish that live in it. Because the fish need a large surface area in

their gills in contact with seawater for gas exchange, they lose water osmotically to the sea

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 Osmotic Solution (Hypertonic, Hypotonic and Isotonic) Osmotic pressure and effect on cells. Donna equilibrium

from gill cells. They respond to the loss by drinking large amounts of saltwater, and actively

excreting the excess salt. This process is called osmoregulation.

Figure 2: Diagram showing hypertonicity in red blood cell, causing water to move out of the cell

2. Hypotonic Solution:

A hypotonic solution has a lower concentration of solutes than another solution. In

biology, a solution outside of a cell is called hypotonic if it has a lower concentration of

solutes relative to the cytosol. Due to osmotic pressure, water diffuses into the cell, and

the cell often appears turgid, or bloated. For cells without a cell wall such as animal cells,

if the gradient is large enough, the uptake of excess water can produce enough pressure to

induce cytolysis, or rupturing of the cell. When plant cells are in a hypotonic solution, the

central vacuole takes on extra water and pushes the cell membrane against the cell wall.

Due to the rigidity of the cell wall, it pushes back, preventing the cell from bursting. This

is called turgor pressure.

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 Osmotic Solution (Hypertonic, Hypotonic and Isotonic) Osmotic pressure and effect on cells. Donna equilibrium

Figure 3: A red blood cell in a hypotonic solution, causing water to move into the cell

3. Isotonic Solution:

A solution is isotonic when its effective osmole concentration is the same as that of

another solution. In biology, the solutions on either side of a cell membrane are isotonic

if the concentration of solutes outside the cell is equal to the concentration of solutes

inside the cell. In this case the cell neither swells nor shrinks because there is no

concentration gradient to induce the diffusion of large amounts of water across the cell

membrane. Water molecules freely diffuse through the plasma membrane in both

directions, and as the rate of water diffusion is the same in each direction, the cell will

neither gain nor lose water. An iso-osmolar solution can be hypotonic if the solute is able

to penetrate the cell membrane. For example, an iso-osmolar urea solution is hypotonic to

red blood cells, causing their lysis. This is due to urea entering the cell down its

concentration gradient, followed by water. The osmolarity of normal saline, 9 grams

NaCl dissolved in water to a total volume of one liter, is a close approximation to the

osmolarity of NaCl in blood (about 290 mOsm/L (osmoles per liter or osmolarity)). Thus,

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 Osmotic Solution (Hypertonic, Hypotonic and Isotonic) Osmotic pressure and effect on cells. Donna equilibrium

normal saline is almost isotonic to blood plasma. Neither sodium nor chloride ions can

freely pass through the plasma membrane, unlike urea.

Figure 4: Diagram to show red blood cell in isotonic solution

DONNA EQUILIBRUM

The Donnan equilibrium relationship is derived from thermodynamics. Under conditions

of equilibrium the chemical potential μi of any dissolved species i is the same in every phase

present:

[1] μi=μi∘+RTlnai

Here, μi∘ is the chemical potential of species i in the standard state, R is the gas law constant, T

is the absolute temperature, and ai is the activity of the particular chemical species i being

considered. However, electrical potentials must also be considered when the chemical species are

ionic, so the electrochemical potential ηi must be used to describe the equilibrium:

[2] ηi=μi∘+RTlnai+ziFθ

where zi is the ionic charge, F is Faraday's constant, and θ is the electrical potential. When the

two liquids, phase 1 and phase 2, are at equilibrium with the membrane, there is also equilibrium

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 Osmotic Solution (Hypertonic, Hypotonic and Isotonic) Osmotic pressure and effect on cells. Donna equilibrium

between the two liquid phases, and the electrochemical potential of any mobile species i in the

two phases can be equated.

[3] ηi1=ηi2,orRTlnai1+ziFθ1=RTlnai2+ziFθ2

It should be noted that the μi∘ terms cancel because the same standard state exists in both liquid

phases. But the co-ions are not free to move through the membrane that separates the two liquid

phases, so there is no opportunity for their concentrations to change. Whenever salt

concentrations on opposite sides of the membrane differ, there will be a potential difference

across the membrane caused by the concentration difference. This potential difference, called the

‘Donnan potential’, EDon, is described by rearrangement of eqn [3]:

[4] EDon=θ2−θ1=RT/ziF(lnai1−lnai2)=RT/Fln(ai1/ai2)1/zi

Since the Donnan potential acts on all mobile ionic species, the value of (ai1/ai2)1/zi is the same for

all of the counterions in the system. In other words, the concentration difference of the co-ions

causes an electrical potential that acts on the counterions.

As Donnan pointed out in his seminal description of the theory, a precise treatment of the

equilibria would require the use of activities rather than concentrations of ions in the solutions.

But the use of molar concentrations greatly simplifies the presentation of the theory, so that is the

approach taken here. For the experiment described by Donnan where zi=+1 for both Na+ and K+

ions, the equilibrium written with concentrations would be:

[5] [Na+]1/[Na+]2=[K+]1/[K+]2or[Na+]1/[K+]1=[Na+]2/[K+]2

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 Osmotic Solution (Hypertonic, Hypotonic and Isotonic) Osmotic pressure and effect on cells. Donna equilibrium

Figure 1 illustrates the flow of ions in the approach to Donnan equilibrium. Two dilute salt

solutions NaCl and KCl are separated a cation-exchange membrane, labelled C, which is

permeable to the cations Na+ and K+ but impermeable to the common anion Cl−. The

concentration difference of Na+ ions across the membrane provides a driving force for their

diffusion through the membrane. There is no net flow of electric current through the membrane,

so any net transfer of Na+ to the right must be balanced by transfer of an equivalent amount of K +

to the left. Those diffusive processes will occur until an equilibrium is established.

Figure 5: Donnan potential forces K+ ions to higher concentration.

The equilibrium concentrations can be expressed in terms of the initial molar concentrations c1 of

NaCl on the left and c2 of KCl on the right, x moles transported through the membrane (still the

same for both cations) and the volumes V1 and V2 of the solutions, expressed in litres:

[6] (c1−x/V1)/(x/V1)=(x/V2)/(c2−x/V2)

Solving this equation for x yields:

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 Osmotic Solution (Hypertonic, Hypotonic and Isotonic) Osmotic pressure and effect on cells. Donna equilibrium

[7] x=c1c2/(c1/V2+c2/V1)

Donnan dialysis is particularly effective for recovery or removal of multivalent ions. The

Donnan equilibrium for a divalent Ca2+ ion and a univalent K+ is described by the equation:

[8] ([Ca2+]1/[Ca2+]2)1/2=[K+]1/[K+]2

For maintenance of electroneutrality in the system, the transport of x moles of Ca2+ ions through

the membrane requires the transport of 2x moles of K+ ions in the opposite direction. Thus the

equilibrium is described by:

[9] [(c1−x/V1)/(x/V1)]1/2=(2x/V2)/(c2−2x/V2)

For V1=10, V2=1 and initial concentrations of c1=0.01 and c2=1, the value of x=0.095 is

calculated by eqn [9], which means that more than 95% of the calcium would be driven through

the membrane. The effect of valence is even more dramatic when the c1/c2 ratio is much lower

than the value used in this example.

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