What is the difference between osmosis and diffusion? Please use middle school terms.?
110259
Diffusion is simply the movement of molecules from a place where they are in high concentration to a place where their concentration is lower. It occurs when the system is not in equilibrium.\nOsmosis is a special type of diffusion that happens through a membrane; when the membrane separates two solutions with different concentration of a substance, and the molecules of that substance cannot go through the membrane, then water molecules are the ones that do the moving until equilibrium is reached again.
794259
Diffusion is the natural tendency for molecules/atoms/ions to move from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration.\nOsmosis is diffusion of water.
377572
Substances could move across the cell membrane by either passive or active transport. Passive transport happens with kinetic energy and along a concentration gradient (difference in concentration of a substance).Passive transport includes diffusion, osmosis and facilitated diffusion. Oxygen and carbon dioxide are examples of substances that diffuse.Water will go through by osmosis and glucose is a substance that uses facilitated diffusion.\nActive transport needs energy in the form of ATP and happens against a concentration gradient. Active transport includes endocytosis and exocytosis.It involves the passage in or out of larger molecules.
552084
I assume this is based on the principle of Osmosis. I would like a bit more data before answering further.
930391
Osmosis is the passage of water from a region of high water concentration through a semi-permeable membrane to a region of low water concentration.
1030647
What you describe is the process of osmosis. Osmosis is actually simple diffusion through a semipermeable membrane. The cell membrane is just such a selective permeable membrane. This allows for the movement of water, and controls what can enter and leave the cell. In fact osmosis is the only way water moves through the body. A good example is sweating, the sweat gland does not pump water the human body cannot do that. Instead it pumps salt and urea to the skin surface, and through the process of osmosis water will follow. Osmosis is going from a high concentration of water to a lower concentration of water (thru the membrane)until equib. is achieved.
780024
Diffusion is the normal migration of molecules from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration until and equal concentration is achieved.  Everything in nature does this.\nExample-open a bottle of perfume then pretty soon the person in the next room can smell it and so on.\nOsmosis is diffusion or the movement of water across a semipermeable membrane( a cell membrane that lets some stuff in and keeps others out.).  It can go in or out of the cell based on the concentration.  Water is a common carrier molecule for other substances.\nThus diffusion and osmosis are the same except osmosis must have a membrane crossed.
841228
In both cases you have a semi-permeable membrane separating two solutions.\n\nIn the case of osmosis, solutes (which contribute to the phenomenon) cannot pass through the membrane and therefore the solvent has to pass through the membrane in order to equilibrate the osmotic pressure (or better yet the solvent potential) of the two solutions.\n\nIn the case of dialysis you have some solutes which can pass through the mebrane and diffuse from the solution where their concentration is higher to the one where their concentration is lower. Thus dialysis is used when you want to get rid of certain solutes or exchange them with others, while retaining some of the initial solutes in your system. E.g. if you have a protein sample that has too much salt, you can get rid of the salt (or any other small molecule that you don't want in your sample), without losing your protein, by dialysis; you can change the buffering system with dialysis. Of course there are also the medical aspects of dialysis but these have already been described in detail in the other answer.\n\nIn two words, in the case of osmosis you have net movement of solvent whereas in dialysis you have net movement of some solutes from one solution to the other.
740010
diffusion takes place in a cell and the air.. caused by kinetic energy.. osmosis is the passage of water through a membrane from a higher concentration to a lesser concentration. takes place in body cells and in the leaves of plants...next time do your own homework...
767841
In order to have osmosis first of all you need to have a semi-permeable membrane separating two solutions. In order to have net water movement from one solution to the other you need to have different concentrations of solutes that CANNOT pass through the membrane. These solutes are osmotically active: since they cannot pass through the membrane water has to move in order to equilibrate the osmotic pressures. If they could pass through the membrane then they would just diffuse from one solution to the other until their concentration equilibrates and thus they would not contribute to the generation of osmotic pressure. \n\nSo in two words, osmotically active substances with respect to a given semi-permeable membrane are solutes that cannot pass through the membrane.
31595
Diffusion is transfer of ions or any semipermeable substance through semipermeabe membrane,with help of concentration Gradient across the membrane. Osmosis is loss of water and vapours frm tissue or organised structure like stomata
899533
Diffusion is inversely proportional to molecular weight.\nHigh MW = low diffusion rate\nLow MW = high diffusion rate\n\nSo calculate their MW and see which one is heavier.
650297
I don't know if I could explain it to the litlle boy, but I'll explain it to you and you can figure out how to explain it to the little boy. The potato is porous meaning that water can pass through it like a membrane. The idea of osmosis is that it is always trying to equal out the amount of solute in a solvent. In this case the solvent is the water surrounding the boat and the water in the flesh of the potato and the solute is the salt. Water is drawn into the pores in the potato in order to try to make the salt solute to solvent ratio the same both inside and outside of the potato. If left long enough (and assuming the potato doesn't sink) the water inside the boat and the water outside the boat would have the same concentration of salt.
1165380
Similarities: They both move down a concentration gradient & they do not need ATP.\n\nDifferences: Osmosis is only for water molecules & it happens through a partially permeable membrane.
701356
I think you mean OSMOSIS?\n\n1) go to www.google.com\n2) enter osmosis in the text box\n3) click the search button\n4) read
1004078
Diffusion is the flow of particles down the concentration gradient. Meaning that particles are flowing from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. Two examples are this occuring around your house are\n1. when you take a bubble bath. Even if you were to pour the bubbles in after the water stopped runnning the bubble mixture would still spread evenly throughout the water by simple diffusion.\n2. when you light a scented cande. The scent travels throughout the whole house because it travels from an area of high concentration (right above the candle) to the rest of the areas around the house that have low concentrations of the scent.\nGood? next time do your homework yourself :)
916209
The easiest way to understand osmosis is to think about a bottle of strong perfume.  When you take the lid off the molecules spread out filling the room slowly with smell.  Molecules move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration.  (that is your answer, I believe)  Another way to understand it is to drop food coloring into a large bowl of water.  It will slowly spread throughout the bowl.