Question

A bottle filled with previously moistened mustard seeds and water was screw capped tightly and kept in a comer. It blew up suddenly after about half an hour. The phenomenon involved is:

• A. Diffusion
• B. Imbibition
• C. Osmosis
• D. D.P.D.

Answer 1

The correct option is B Imbibition

Imbibition is a special type of diffusion when water is absorbed by solids-colloids causing an enormous increase in volume. Examples include the absorption of water by seeds and dry wood.

When moistened mustard seeds are kept in a corner in a bottle then due to imbibition, seeds will absorb water and suddenly blew up.

The movement of molecules from regions of higher concentration to regions of lower concentration is called diffusion. Movement by diffusion is passive.

DPD stands for diffusion pressure deficit. It is the pressure difference between the solution and pure water. It is simply defined as the thirst of the cell for water. It can be depicted as osmotic pressure subtracted from turgor pressure.

Osmosis is the transport of a solvent through a semipermeable membrane that separates two solutions of differing solute concentration. During osmosis, the solvent moves from the solution that is lower in solute concentration to the solution that is higher in solute concentration.

So the correct answer is 'Imbibition'.