Question

During World War II, a ship was carrying a cargo of beans when it was torpedoed. It was badly damaged but did not sink. However, when the water reached the beans, the ship soon split at the seams and sank. Using what you have learned from this lab, explain what happened?

Answer 1

The ship split and sank because of osmotic pressure caused by water moving into the beans, causing them to swell and increase the pressure inside the ship.

Step-by-step explanation:

The ship split at the seams and sank when the water reached the beans because of a phenomenon called osmotic pressure. Osmosis is the movement of solvent molecules from an area of lower solute concentration to an area of higher solute concentration through a semipermeable membrane. In this case, the water outside the beans had a higher concentration of solutes than the water inside the beans, causing water to move into the beans through their semipermeable membranes.

As a result, the beans absorbed water and swelled up. This increased the pressure inside the ship, putting stress on the seams. Eventually, the pressure became too much for the weakened seams to handle, causing the ship to split and sink.