Answer:
A. Water molecules moved from compartment 2 to compartment 1.
B. The water molecules moved in this direction because the concentration of solutes in compartment 1 is greater than that in compartment 2
Step-by-step explanation:
The setup in the diagram demonstrates the process of osmosis. In the setup, two solutions of different concentrations as shown by the difference in the number of solutes present in each, is separated by a semipermeable membrane. After sometime, it will be observed that the level of the solution in compartment 1 rises while that in compartment 2 reduces. This is because of the movement of water molecules across the membrane from 1 to 2. This process is known as osmosis.
Osmosis is the movement of water molecules across a semipermeable membrane from a region of lower solute concentration or higher concentration of water molecules to a region of higher solute concentration or lower concentration of water molecules until an equilibrium concentration is attained.
This movement of water molecules is due to the difference in concentrations of the two solutions as well as a presence of a semipermeable membrane which allows only water molecules to move across it but not solute molecules.