TONICITY

Tonicity

Tonicity is a measure of the osmotic pressure gradient of two solutions separated by a semipermeable membrane. It is commonly used when describing the response of cells immersed in an external solution. Like osmotic pressure, tonicity is influenced only by solutes that cannot cross the membrane, as only these exert an osmotic pressure. Solutes able to freely cross the membrane do not affect tonicity because they will always be in equal concentrations on both sides of the membrane.

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tonicity

Noun

  1. The normal presence of tone or tension in a muscle or organ; tonus
  2. The ability of a solution to exert an osmotic pressure upon a membrane


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: tonicity
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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