Desalination of seawater is done by using reverse osmosis. The pressure applied to the solution is
larger than osmotic pressure
smaller than osmotic pressure
equal to osmotic pressure
equal to atmospheric pressure
Answer is Right!
Answer is Wrong!
This question was previously asked in
UPSC CDS-2 – 2017
Osmosis is the spontaneous movement of solvent molecules through a semipermeable membrane from a region of lower solute concentration to a region of higher solute concentration. Osmotic pressure is the pressure that would have to be applied to a pure solvent to prevent it from passing into a given solution by osmosis, often used to express the concentration of the solution. Reverse osmosis is a process where a solvent is forced through a semipermeable membrane from a region of high solute concentration to a region of low solute concentration by applying a pressure greater than the osmotic pressure. This is the principle used in desalination to separate pure water from seawater.