What is Water Potential?
Learning Objective
I can define water potential and its components.
Key Concepts
Water potential, symbolized by Ψ (Psi) and associated with Poseidon's trident, measures the potential energy of water per unit area relative to pure water.
Water always flows from areas of high water potential to areas of low water potential.
Water potential (Ψ) is calculated by adding the solute potential and the pressure potential, which account for osmosis and physical pressure, respectively.
Practice Questions
This lesson includes 3 practice questions to reinforce learning.
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1. Define water potential in your own words. How does it help us understand the movement of water?
2. Explain the relationship between solute potential and the addition of solutes to a solution. How does adding more solutes affect the solute potential, and why?
3. A plant cell has a solute potential of -3 bars and a pressure potential of 2 bars. What is the water potential of the cell?
Educational Video
Water Potential
Bozeman Science