Finally: After 250 years, a solution to this intriguing and important phenomena of osmosis has been found. Many other solutions have been proposed, no others fully explain the process and the many applications. This book introduces a new understanding of osmosis, solids, liquids, and vapor pressure and more
Our efforts to apply the vapor pressure theory of osmosis to medical physiology have been difficult. The difficulty appears to be due to language differences. Therefore, we’re going to look at a very simple example from a popular medical text. A cell is placed into pure water. The osmolality of pure water is much …. Read More
Me and My Celery…… Recently I decided to have a celery snack. The celery from my refrigerator was not crisp, it was limp. After finding my “how to do everything in the kitchen” book, I soaked the celery in freshwater overnight. The next morning it was crisp. WHY does the celery become crisp after soaking …. Read More
Osmosis is the mechanism for transferring fluids and nutrients across membranes. It occurs in plants and animals and maintains the proper balance between extracellular and intracellular fluids. Although osmotic pressure is measured in the laboratory and has been referred to as a driving force for osmosis Osmotic pressure only occurs in laboratory experiments and calculations. …. Read More
We have introduced a molecular model for osmosis and have shown that free molecules exist in liquids and solids. The number of free molecules is directly related to vapor pressure and the temperature of the substance. From the osmosis experiment we find that water moves from the pure waterside (higher vapor pressure) through the membrane …. Read More
I recently learned of the 2013 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine shared by James Rothman, Randy Schekman and Thomas Sudhof, for their work on improving the understanding of structure and function of cell vesicles. A vesicle is a small fluid-filled membrane sac that occurs both within and outside of cells. Problems within these vesicles …. Read More
Seed Storage Factors. Many elements affect the viability of stored seeds. Two principal factors that we can control are seed initial moisture content and temperature of storage. We further assume that temperature and seed moisture remain constant during storage. Storage time is defined as the years of storage when 90% of the initial batch of …. Read More
My tree drips. We proposed a model for maple tree sap collection. Sap rises as vapor in a tree. When the temperature drops below freezing, the excess vapor freezes. Then, as the temperature warms, the frozen sap thaws to a liquid which is then collected. This liquid sap is in a non-equilibrium condition. that is …. Read More
Vapor Pressure II As we noted previously, the osmosis process of molecular movement through a membrane is directly related to vapor pressure difference. This agrees with other models for fluid flow. Flow is directly related to pressure difference and flow proceeds from a high-pressure area to a low-pressure area. But, what is pressure? We introduce …. Read More
We are approaching maple syrup season. Sap is collected from Late February to April. Forty gallons of sap boil down to approximately 1 gallon of maple syrup. I tapped my sixty-foot-high maple tree several years ago and again this year, then inserted a pressure gage. I recorded pressure, ambient temperature and tree trunk temperature at …. Read More
HYBRID Seed Corn Hybrid seed corn has been specifically developed with special characteristics for: wet/dry growing seasons, soil types, plant strength, disease resistance, days to maturity, etc. More than 100 varieties are available from major suppliers. It is very expensive to produce hybrid seed corn. Six rows of one variety of corn are planted between …. Read More