Question

Define water potential and solute potential.

Answer 1

Water potential:

• Water potential is the measure of the concentration and free energy of water in a system per unit volume.
• Water potential (Ψw) has two components, solute potential (Ψs) and pressure potential (Ψp).
• At atmospheric pressure, the pure water has a water potential of zero.

Solute potential:

• The magnitude of decrease of water potential due to the dissolution of a solute is called solute potential.
• Solute potential is always negative.