What is osmotic pressure?
Answer
Osmotic pressure is the minimum external pressure that must be applied to a solution to stop the inflow of solvent through a semipermeable membrane by osmosis.
The working
Definition
It is the pressure needed to just prevent the net movement of pure solvent into a solution across a semipermeable membrane.
Formula
Osmotic pressure π = CRT, where C is molar concentration, R is the gas constant, and T is absolute temperature.
Colligative nature
It depends only on the number of solute particles in solution, not on their chemical identity.
Use
It is used to find molar masses of polymers and proteins because it gives measurable values even for dilute solutions.
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