Difference between Osmosis and Diffusion & their Comparisons

Difference between Osmosis and Diffusion: You would have often seen spraying perfume or room fresheners in the room the smell of the perfume or fresheners gets diffused and you would sense the odor. Also while gardening or watering the plants you would see the water get absorbed by the soil, this is due to the phenomenon of osmosis. The wonders of diffusion and osmosis are common in our daily lives. Oftentimes people get confused about the two terms, namely diffusion and Osmosis. to understand the concept clearly it is necessary to know the difference between the two.. The major difference between the two is that in Osmosis, the water or solvent moves from a lower concentration to a higher concentration, while in diffusion the solvent particles move from a higher concentration level to a lower concentration level.

Difference between Osmosis and Diffusion

The difference between Osmosis and diffusion is that in Osmosis the solvent particles move through a semipermeable membrane whereas in diffusion the solvent particles do not require a semipermeable membrane. Osmosis and Diffusion are important topics in chemistry. The other differences are tabulated below.

Parameter	Osmosis	Diffusion
Definition	It is defined as the phenomenon of the movement of solvent particles across a semi-permeable form.	It can be defined as the movement of particles from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration.
Semi-permeable membrane	It requires a semi-permeable membrane.	It has no need for a semi-permeable membrane.
Medium	It takes place only in a liquid medium.	It takes place in any medium- solid, liquid, or gas.
Concentration	The solvent’s concentration does not become equal on both of the membrane sides.	The diffusion substance’s concentration equalizes to fill the space available.
Dependence	It depends on solute potential. Furthermore, it mainly depends on the number of solute particles in the solvent.	It does not depend on solute potential, water potential, or pressure potential. Furthermore, it depends mainly on the presence of other particles.
Movement	The movement in osmosis is such that it seeks to equalize solvent concentration, though it does not happen.	The movement in diffusion equalizes concentration throughout the entire system.
Hydrostatic pressure and turgor pressure	These two pressures oppose osmosis.	These two pressures do not normally apply to diffusion.
Types of Solution	Occurs only between similar types of solutions.	Occurs between similar and dissimilar types of solutions.

Overview of Osmosis

Osmosis is defined as a passive process that happens without any expenditure of energy. It involves the movement of solvent particles from a region of higher concentration to a lower concentration until the concentrations become equal on either side of the membrane.

Types of Osmosis: The process of Osmosis is of two types:

Endosmosis	When placed in a hypotonic solution, the solvent particle moves inside the cell and becomes swollen, and undergoes deplasmolysis.
Exosmosis	When placed in a hypertonic solution, the solvent particles move outside the cell and hence cell becomes loose and undergoes plasmolysis.

Factors affecting Osmosis: Some of the factors that affect osmosis are-

Temperature
Pressure
Concerntration gradiemts
Surface area
Water Potential

Examples of Osmosis:

Having salty food-thirsty feelings is an example of Osmosis.
Dialysis of the kidney.
Swelling of almonds and other dry fruits when they are soaked in water.
Swelling up of RBCs when exposed to fresh water.

Overview of Diffusion

Diffusion is referred to as the movement of molecules under a concentration gradient from a higher concentration level to a lower concentration level through a semi-permeable membrane. Diffusion is the movement of substances in and out of the cells.

Types of Diffusion:

Simple diffusion	A process in which the substance moves through a semipermeable membrane that does not requires membrane protein.
Facilitated diffusion	Facilitated diffusion is a passive movement of molecules across the cell membrane which requires carrier molecules from the region of higher concentration gradient to the region of lower concentration gradient.

Factors affecting Diffusion

Some of the factors that affect the process of diffusion are-

Temperature.
Surface Area of Interaction.
Size of the Particle.
The steepness of the concentration gradient.

Examples of Diffusion

Diffusion of tea bag that is immersed in a cup of hot water.
Diffusion of the smell of spray, fresheners, or incense sticks into the room.
Dissolution of sugar into the water.
Adding boiling water to the dried noodles the water diffuses causing rehydration and making dried noodles plumper and saturated.

Difference between Osmosis and Diffusion- FAQs

Ans. Diffusion is referred to as the movement of molecules under a concentration gradient from a higher concentration level to a lower concentration level through a semi-permeable membrane. Diffusion is the movement of substances in and out of the cells.

Ans. Osmosis is defined as a passive process that happens without any expenditure of energy. It involves the movement of solvent particles from a region of higher concentration to a lower concentration until the concentrations become equal on either side of the membrane.

Ans. The major difference between the two is that in Osmosis, the water or solvent moves from a lower concentration to a higher concentration, while in diffusion the solvent particles move from a higher concentration level to a lower concentration level.

Ans. Some of the examples of osmosis are- Having salty food-thirsty feelings is an example of Osmosis, Dialysis of the kidney. Swelling of almonds and other dry fruits when they are soaked in water, Swelling up of RBCs when exposed to fresh water.

Ans. Some of the example of diffusion are- Diffusion of tea bag that is immersed in a cup of hot water. Diffusion of the smell of spray, fresheners, or incense sticks into the room. Dissolution of sugar into the water. Adding boiling water to the dried noodles the water diffuses causing rehydration and making dried noodles plumper and saturated.

Difference between Osmosis and Diffusion & their Comparisons