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From: mcdonald@aries.scs.uiuc.edu (Doug McDonald)
Newsgroups: sci.bio,sci.chem
Subject: Re: Textbook errors - OSMOSIS
Keywords: osmosis
Message-ID: <1990Nov14.171839.12177@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: 14 Nov 90 17:18:39 GMT
References: <1748@ruunsa.fys.ruu.nl> <4171@kitty.UUCP>
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Organization: School of Chemical Sciences, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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In article <4171@kitty.UUCP> larry@kitty.UUCP (Larry Lippman) writes:
>In article <1748@ruunsa.fys.ruu.nl>, hooft@ruunsa.fys.ruu.nl (Rob Hooft) writes:
>> I've got enough osmosis-nonsense today.
>> Please stop using all this empirical nonsense and start using plain 
>> thermodynamics. The effect is so simple to understand once you know the
>> fundamental laws of thermodynamics.
>
>	Amen!  I was one of the first to respond to the question two
>weeks or so ago, and I gave a (somewhat) simple explanation based upon
>a thermodynamic approach.  I briefly repeat:
>
>$$> 	My personal preference is to explain osmosis using a thermodynamic
>$$> approach. 

>
>Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp.  "Have you hugged your cat today?"

Sure. No problem.

But that begs the question very seriously. The "usual" thermodynamic
formulation ASSUMES ideal solutions. Are the big polymer solutions ideal?
If so, this will work. Under what conditions ARE they ideal - 
does big size prevent ideality (yes, this is answered clearly in
undergrad texts)? If they are not ideal WHY not - is it an entropic
or energetic effect. What is the physical basis behind this?

I don't know. But I will ask a genuine expert (Peter Wolynes).
Stay tuned.

Doug McDonald