Osmosis

Restart animation

This simulation shows a mass-dependent transmission through a semi-permeable membrane. The red particles can be transmitted while the blue particles are blocked. The probability that a red particle will pass through the membrane can be set at either 20% or 80%.   Click on either Enable Diffusion button to open the membrane.

Questions to explore:

1. When the membrane is closed, are the pressures and temperatures of the two halves of the container equal?  Pause the animation, record the data, and play.  Collect at least ten samples.
2. The ideal gas law is pV = NkT.  What is the value of k, the Boltzmann constant, in this animation?
3. When the membrane allows red particles to diffuse through it, does the average number of particles in the two halves depend on the probability that a particle passes through the membrane?
4. With the membrane open, what are the average number of particles in the two halves of the container?  Does this agree with the ideal gas law?  Explain.
5. With the membrane open, is the Boltzmann constant the same in the two halves of the container?
6. Which quantity, pressure or temperature, is different in the two halves?  Explain why this is so.