The Rate Of Osmosis

Diffusion is a way nonvascular plants can get water. It is the movement of molecules from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration until they are equal. An example of diffusion is red food coloring. When you put food coloring in a glass of water the color will spread through the water until all of it is a red tint. This shows the molecules of the food coloring equally distributed in the area of the water. Osmosis is a special type of diffusion where only the water molecules move. This happens through a selectively permeable membrane. It allows water and oxygen to move freely across the membrane. Osmosis only has an effect when the cell is in a hypotonic or hypertonic solution. A hypotonic solution is when the salt concentration
In both, osmosis transports water in and out of the cell. In a plant cell, the cell wall keeps the cell from bursting when the cell is in a hypotonic solution. As pressure increases inside the cell from the water the cell becomes more rigid. This is useful because plants don't have a skeleton. Instead of a skeleton the plant is supported by the pressure from the water inside the plant cells, called turgor pressure. If the plant cells lose too much water by osmosis because they are in a hypertonic solution then the plant will become less rigid. Eventually the cell membrane will shrink away from the cell wall, causing the plant to wilt. In an animal cell things are a little bit different. If the cell is in a hypertonic solution the water will continue to leave the cell and it will shrink and become shriveled. If the cell is in a hypotonic solution the water will continue to move into the cell and it will eventually burst. These things happen to the animal cells instead of the plant cells because the animal cells don't have a cell wall. Diffusion is also very important to plant and animal cells. Diffusion moves important nutrients into the cell that is vital to its