Reference no: EM133833896

Question

If the pores in the selectively permeable membrane became larger, but still not large enough to let the sugar pass through, what would happen during osmosis in the U-shaped tube compared to what is shown in the figure? Two U-shaped tubes representing two states during osmosis. Both tubes have a membrane at their bases. The tube on the left has equal fluid levels in arms. Arm A contains solution with lower concentration of solute, arm B contains solution with higher concentration of solute. Water pass from arm A to arm B. After osmosis the tube on the right contains solutions with similar concentration of solute in both arms. The fluid level on arm A is lower than the fluid level on arm B. Some water would be pushed back to the left side through the larger pores, so the water level on the right would not get as high. More water could pass to the right side of the tube so the water level would rise even higher. The final water levels would be the same as shown in the figure, but the solutions would reach near equal concentrations faster. There would be less free water on the left side of the tube, so the water level on the right would not get as high.