Question

The given figure shows demonstration of osmosis. A thistle funnel is filled with sucrose solution and kept inverted in a beaker containing water. In case sucrose diffuses out through the membrane, will this equilibrium be ever reached?

Answer 1

Equilibrium:
When two fluids are separated from each other by a membrane, molecules diffuse from a region of their higher concentration to the region of their lower concentration depending on the type of partitioning membrane used. This continues until equilibrium is achieved.

Final answer:
In case if sucrose starts to diffuse out through the membrane, at a point the solute concentration in pure water will increase and with time it will move from higher concentration to lower concentration till a state of equilibrium is reached. However, movement of water will also occur along the concentration gradient. This makes it complex to reach equilibrium.