Question

A container has two compartments, A and B, separated by a permeable membrane inserted vertically through the middle. A 10 g/L NaCl solution is placed in compartment A and a 12 g/L NaCl solution is placed in compartment B.

Describe the movement of particles that will occur across the membrane making sure to reference the numbers in your response. (2 marks)

Answer 1

The movement of particles will be from compartment B to compartment A.

Step-by-step explanation:

The movement of particles is done through a process called diffusion. This is the movement of particles from an area of high concentration to low concentration. Compartment B has a higher concentration of NaCl at 12g/L compared to compartment A which has 10g/L. The NaCl will diffuse from B to A until there is a uniform dispersion of particles on both sides reaching 11g/L. This same principle would apply to all of the particles that are small enough to go through the membrane.