Biology - Diffusion/Osmosis of 2 Solutions

[markelmarcel]

Homework Statement

You have two solutions - Solution A = 0.5 M NaCl and 0.5 M KCl Solution B= 1.0 M NaCl

If Solution A and B are separated by
a) a membrane permeable to all three ions what will happen?
and
b) a membrane that ions can not pass through but that water can, what will happen?

Homework Equations

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The Attempt at a Solution

I'm pretty sure Part A is talking about passive transport/diffusion of two solutes. I know that 2 different solutions will end up traveling through the membrane until they reach equilibrium.

I'm also certain that Part B is talking about passive transport/osmosis, in which case the water would diffuse from the solution with less concentrated solution to the solution with more concentrated solution.


What I don't understand is how to use the moles of the given solutions to help me figure out what the right answer is. We had a question like this on a quiz that I got wrong and then also it is now on my homework, and he has yet to mention anything like this in class, so I don't know how to apply the knowledge of diffusion/osmosis to this question.

 

[chemisttree]

Part A. On one side of the membrane you have a mix of .5M NaCl and .5M KCl. That solution is actually .5M Na+, .5M K+ and 1.0M Cl-.

On the other side of the membrane you have 1.0M NaCl which is actually 1.0M Na+ and 1.0M Cl-. So, one side is relatively rich in Na+ one side is relatively rich in K+ and both sides are equi-osmotic with respect to Cl-. The membrane can freely pass Na+, K+, Cl- and water.

Can you take it from there?

Part B. Yep.

 

[markelmarcel]

Part A. On one side of the membrane you have a mix of .5M NaCl and .5M KCl. That solution is actually .5M Na+, .5M K+ and 1.0M Cl-.

On the other side of the membrane you have 1.0M NaCl which is actually 1.0M Na+ and 1.0M Cl-. So, one side is relatively rich in Na+ one side is relatively rich in K+ and both sides are equi-osmotic with respect to Cl-. The membrane can freely pass Na+, K+, Cl- and water.

Can you take it from there?

Part B. Yep.

Ok. I was able to figure out Part A while I was waiting for a reply. It was actually a multiple choice question with instructions to choose the correct answer or answers.

So the choices for Part A were: (my answers are bolded)
A. K+ will diffuse from A to B
B. Na+ will diffuse from A to B
C. Na+ will diffuse from B to A
D. Cl- will diffuse from B to A
E. Cl- will diffuse from A to B
F. Cl- will not diffuse.


For Part B the choices are:
A. Water will move from A to B
B. Water will move from B to A
C. Water will not move in either direction.


So- Both solutions are 2.0M total concentration. But Solution A has 2 different pieces in its solution whereas Solution A is only NaCl...

How do I figure out which side is more concentrated? Would water be moving to both sides to account for the lack of K in Solution B and the lack of Na in Solution A?

 

[markelmarcel]

So- Both solutions are 2.0M total concentration. But Solution A has 2 different pieces in its solution whereas Solution A is only NaCl...

How do I figure out which side is more concentrated? Would water be moving to both sides to account for the lack of K in Solution B and the lack of Na in Solution A?

Ok- or would water not be moving at all? Since a mol isn't really a number it would be the same thing as saying "a dozen" of something. So- if I have apples(Na), oranges(Cl) and pears(K) I could say...

Solution A- has 1/2 dozen apples, 1/2 dozen pears and a dozen of Cl.

Solution B - has 1 dozen apples and 1 dozen oranges

Both of those solutions equal out to 2 dozen... or 2.0M... so they are concentrated the same?


I don't know... this just confuses me because in class we only talked about ONE type of solute of different concentration- not more than one. =/

 

[Lancelot59]

Here's a tip for these sorts of problems: Draw it out. It helped me get the idea when I was learning it.

Just draw both sides in the initial phase with their concentrations. Then take a look at what can move through the membrane. Once that is established, just see which side has a lower concentration of that particular substance and that's the direction it will move.

Not sure if that helps for this situation though. Like you my lessons only entailed two substances, a miscellaneous solute and water.