CHEMISTRY INVESTIGATORY PROJECT
TOPIC- OSMOSIS, REVERSE
OSMOSIS AND ITS
APPLICATIONS
NAME: MERVIN JOEL
CLASS: XII-F
GR No: 41252
ACADAMIC YEAR: 2020-21
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Certificate of Merit
This is to certify that Mr. Mervin Joel of
class XII-F has successfully completed
the investigatory Chemistry project report
prescribed by the CBSE in the laboratory
of International Indian School, Riyadh
in the academic year 2020-2021.
Signature of External Signature of Teacher
Examiner
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
In the accomplishment of this project successfully, many people
have best owned upon me their blessings and the heart pledged
support, this time I am utilizing to thank all the people who
have been concerned with this project.
Primarily I would thank God for being able to complete this
project with success. Then I would like to thank my Chemistry
Teacher Mrs. Kartika Hari, whose valuable guidance has been
the once that helped me patch this project and make it full
proof success. The suggestions and instructions by my teacher
served as the major contribute towards the completion of the
Project.
Then I like to thank my parents who have helped me with their
valuable suggestions, ideas and guidance has been very helpful
in various phases for completion of the project. Last but not
the least I would like to thank my classmates who have helped
me a lot in completion of the project.
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CONTENS
S.No. DESCRIPTION Page No.
1. Certificate of Merit 2
2. Acknowledgement 3
3. Introduction on Osmosis 5
4. Osmotic Solutions 6
5. Types of Osmosis 7,8
6. Osmotic Pressure 9
7. Significance of Osmosis 10
8. Applications of Osmosis 11,12,13
9. Reverse Osmosis 14,15
10. Benefits and Advantages of Reverse 16
Osmosis
11. Application of Reverse Osmosis 17,18,19
12. Difference Between Osmosis and 20
Reverse Osmosis
13. Conclusion 21
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What is Osmosis?
“Osmosis is a process by which the molecules of a
solvent pass from a solution of low concentration to a
solution of high concentration through a semi-
permeable membrane.”
Osmosis is a passive process and happens without
any expenditure of energy. It involves the movement
of molecules from a region of higher concentration to
lower concentration until the concentrations become
equal on either side of the membrane.
Any solvent can undergo the process of osmosis
including gases and supercritical liquids.
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Osmotic Solutions
There are three different types of solutions:
Isotonic Solution
Hypertonic Solution
Hypotonic Solution
An isotonic solution is one that has the same concentration
of solutes both inside and outside the cell.
A hypertonic solution is one that has a higher solute
concentration outside the cell than inside.
A hypotonic solution is the one that has a higher solute
concentration inside the cell than outside.
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Types of Osmosis
Osmosis is of two types:
Endosmosis– When a substance is placed in a hypotonic
solution, the solvent molecules move inside the cell and the cell
becomes turgid or undergoes deplasmolysis. This is known as
endosmosis.
Example: Raisins swell when placed in normal water.
Exosmosis– When a substance is placed in a hypertonic
solution, the solvent molecules move outside the cell and the
cell becomes flaccid or undergoes plasmolysis. This is known as
exosmosis.
Example: Raisins shrivel when placed in a concentrated salt
solution.
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Difference between Endosmosis and Exosmosis.
ENDOSMOSIS EXOSMOSIS
The solvent moves into the The solvent moves out of
cell. the cell.
(Endo = inside) (Exo = outside)
Osmosis towards the inside Osmosis towards the
of a cell. outside of a cell.
Occurs when there is lower Occurs when the osmotic
osmotic pressure. pressure is higher.
Hypotonic solutions induce Hypertonic solutions
endosmosis in cells induce exosmosis in cells
(distilled water is (Intravenous Fluid is often
hypotonic because it hypertonic as it has many
contains no solute). solutes).
Higher water potential of Lower water potential of
the surrounding areas when the surrounding areas when
compared to the cytosol compared to the cytosol.
(the watery part of
cytoplasm in a cell).
As a result, the cell swells. As a result, the cell shrinks.
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Osmotic Pressure
Osmotic pressure is the pressure required to stop water from
diffusing through a membrane by osmosis. It is determined by
the concentration of the solute. Water diffuses into the area of
higher concentration from the area of lower concentration.
When the concentration of the substances in the two areas in
contact is different, the substances will diffuse until the
concentration is uniform throughout.
Osmotic pressure can be calculated using the equation:
Π = CRT
where Π denotes the osmotic pressure,
M is the molar concentration of the solute,
R is the gas constant,
T is the temperature.
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Significance of Osmosis
Osmosis influences the transport of nutrients and the
release of metabolic waste products.
It is responsible for the absorption of water from the
soil and conducting it to the upper parts of the plant
through the xylem.
It stabilizes the internal environment of a living
organism by maintaining the balance between water
and intercellular fluid levels.
It maintains the turgidity of cells.
It is a process by which plants maintain their water
content despite the constant water loss due to
transpiration.
This process controls the cell to cell diffusion of
water.
Osmosis induces cell turgor which regulates the
movement of plants and plant parts.
Osmosis also controls the dehiscence of fruits and
sporangia.
Higher osmotic pressure protects the plants against
drought injury.
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Applications of Osmosis
Osmosis has a significant role to play in plants, animals and
also in humans.
1. The absorption of water from the soil is due to osmosis.
The plant roots have a higher concentration than the soil, therefore, the
water flows into the roots.
The absorbed water is transported through the roots to the rest of the
plant where it is used for different purposes:
It is a reactant used in photosynthesis.
It supports leaves and shoots by keeping the cells rigid.
It cools the leaves by evaporation.
It transports dissolved minerals around the plant.
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2. Preserving Fruits and Meats
Osmosis is also used for preserving fruits and meats, though the process
is quite different for the two. In the case of fruit, osmosis is used to
dehydrate it, whereas in the preservation of meat, osmosis draws salt
into it, thus preventing the intrusion of bacteria.
Most fruits are about 75% water, and this makes them highly
susceptible to spoilage. To preserve fruit, it must be dehydrated,
which—as in the case of the salt in the meat—presents bacteria with a
less-than-hospitable environment. Over the years, people have tried a
variety of methods for drying fruit, but most of these have a tendency to
shrink and harden the fruit. The reason for this is that most drying
methods, such as heat from the Sun, are relatively quick and drastic;
osmosis, on the other hand, is slower, more moderate—and closer to the
behavior of nature.
Osmotic dehydration techniques, in fact, result in fruit that can be
stored longer than fruit dehydrated by other methods. This in turn
makes it possible to provide consumers with a wider variety of fruit
throughout the year. Also, the fruit itself tends to maintain more of its
flavor and nutritional qualities while keeping out microorganisms.
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3. Humans suffering from cholera are also affected by
osmosis. The bacteria that overpopulate the intestines reverse the
flow of absorption and do not allow water to be absorbed by the
intestines, which results in dehydration.
4. When the fingers are placed in water for a longer period
of time, they become pruney due to the flow of water inside the cells.
5. One vital process closely linked to osmosis is
dialysis, which is critical to the survival of many victims of kidney
diseases. Dialysis is the process by which an artificial kidney
machine removes waste products from a patients' blood—
performing the role of a healthy, normally functioning kidney. The
openings in the dialyzing membrane are such that not only water,
but salts and other waste dissolved in the blood, pass through to a
surrounding tank of distilled water. The red blood cells, on the other
hand, are too large to enter the dialyzing membrane, so they return
to the patient's body.
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Reverse osmosis is a special type of filtration that uses a
semi-permeable, porous membrane, that allows only pure
water to pass through it, filtering the larger molecules or
impurities.
“The direction of osmosis can be reversed, if a pressure
larger than the osmotic pressure is applied to the solution
side. Now the pure solvent flows out of the solution
through the semipermeable membrane. This phenomenon
is called Reverse Osmosis”.
Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification process that
removes ions, unwanted molecules and larger particles from
drinking water using a partially permeable membrane. As a
result, the solute is kept on the membrane’s pressurized side
and the pure solvent is allowed to pass to the other side.
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Osmotic pressure is the minimum pressure required to stop
solvent flow through the semipermeable membrane.
Therefore, when the solution side (the side where the solute
concentration is high) is subjected to a pressure greater than
the osmotic pressure, the solvent particles on the solution
side move through the semipermeable membrane to the
region where the solute concentration is low. Such inverse
solvent movement through the semipermeable membrane is
called reverse osmosis.
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Benefits of Reverse Osmosis
Below are some of the benefits of reverse osmosis –
1. This process can be used to effectively remove many types
of dissolved and suspended chemical particles as well as
biological entities (like bacteria) from the water
2. This technique has a wide application in treating liquid
wastes or discharge
3. It is used in purifying water to prevent diseases
4. It helps in the desalinating seawater
5. It is beneficial in the medical field.
Advantages of Reverse Osmosis
Reverse Osmosis has several advantages including the
following:
Bacteria, viruses and pyrogen materials are rejected by
the intact membrane. In this respect RO water
approaches distilled water in quality.
Available units are relatively compact and require little
space. They are well suited to home dialysis.
In average use, the membrane has a life of a little more
than one to two years before replacement is necessary.
Periodic complete sterilization of the RO system with
formalin or other sterilant is practical.
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APPLICATION OF REVERSE OSMOSIS
Desalination of Water
98% of the Earth’s water is saltwater, found in seas and oceans. The
other 2% is freshwater, for use by homes, farms and industry, but
40% of people cannot access it. Some people have to travel miles to
find freshwater. Could we, however, use saltwater to supply the
places that most need it? Yes. Desalination technology makes that
possible.
The most advanced and efficient system is reverse osmosis.
We take in seawater, a highly concentrated solution, and force it
through the membrane by adding pressure. On the other side, we
obtain salt-free water, while back on the first side the remaining
water still holds the salt the membrane prevented from passing
through.
In reverse osmosis desalination, water is taken from the sea and
receives a first treatment to eliminate impurities, oil, seaweed,
rubbish, and so on. Once free of organic substances, the saltwater
can be subjected to reverse osmosis. After the filtering, we have two
streams: one brine and the other freshwater. The brine solution is
diluted before being returned to the sea, avoiding high
concentrations of salt which could harm the ecosystem. The
freshwater passes through a demineralization and chlorination
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process, after which it is stored in tanks and then sent to the
distribution network for consumption.
Reverse osmosis is not only the most advanced desalination system
in the world today, it is the most efficient and beneficial for the
planet: it generates up to four-and-a half-times fewer greenhouse gas
emissions than all other technologies, it doesn’t harm the marine
environment, and it’s able to recover a large part of the energy used
in the process.
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LARGEST DESALINATION PLANT IN
THE WORLD
Ras Al Khair, Saudi Arabia: 1,036,000 m3/day
Commonly regarded as the desalination heavyweight of the
world, the massive Ras Al-Khair is a hybrid project that uses
both thermal multistage flash (MSF) and reverse osmosis
(RO) technologies.
Located 75km north-west of Jubail and serving Riyadh, the
site also has a substantial power generation component,
with a capacity of 2,400MW.
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Difference between Osmosis and Reverse Osmosis
Following are the major differences between osmosis and
reverse osmosis:
OSMOSIS REVERSE OSMOSIS
This is the process by which the This is the process by which the
molecules of a solvent pass molecules of a solvent pass
through the semi-permeable through the semi-permeable from
membrane from a region of lower a region of higher concentration
concentration to a higher to lower concentration when
concentration. pressure greater than the osmotic
pressure is applied.
It is a natural process. It is an artificial process.
Occurs along the potential Occurs against the potential
gradient. gradient.
This is observed during the This is used in water purification
opening of stomata and systems.
absorption of water from the soil
by the roots.
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CONCLUSION
Osmosis and Reverse osmosis are very helpful in our daily.
There are plenty of daily life applications in this topic. The
people find very much beneficial due to this process. This
process very much useful in sectors like Agriculture,
Industries which are the backbone of every country. Also these
processes do not cause any pollution much because these are
natural processes which can reduce pollution and make our
environment pollution free. Desalination of water by Reverse
Osmosis is very much useful as Water is precious source for
our mankind. Desalination process provides us a good quality
and contaminated free water to drink and stay healthy and
disease free.
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