What is the difference between Endosmosis and Exosmosis?

Endosmosis and exosmosis are types of osmosis. Osmosis is the passive diffusion mechanism used by cells to pass water molecules across the cell membrane. Endosmosis is the movement of water inside the cell, while exosmosis is the elimination of water from the cell. Endosmosis occurs when cells are placed in hypotonic solutions, while Exosmosis occurs when cells are placed in hypertonic solutions.

Endosmosis refers to the inward osmosis of a cell or vessel, while exosmosis refers to the outward osmosis of a cell or vessel. When Endosmosis occurs, cells may swell while Exosmosis occurs, the cells may shrink. Exosmosis is the movement of water from the root hair cells to the cortical cells of the root, while Endosmosis is the absorption of capillary water from the soil by roots and the entrance of water into the xylem vessels.

Endosmosis is the passage of water into the cell through the semi-permeable cell membrane. With the solute concentrations, cell cytosol has a higher solute concentration than the cell surrounding. Endosmosis could be stimulated when the cell is placed in a hypotonic solution.

A hypotonic mixture has a low solute concentration and high-water potential. Endosmosis makes the cell swell, which is a condition called cell turgidity. In exosmosis, water present in the cytosol is transferred from the cell due to a water potential gradient built across the cell and the surrounding environment. Water moves from the place of higher water potential to a place of lower potential. It is the movement of water out from the cell into the surrounding cell.

Water molecules from the root hairs cell into the root cortex cells are an example of exosmosis. In exosmosis, the solute concentration in the cell is lower than the outside environment. Both factors, such as the difference in water potential and solute concentration, causes the build-up of a potential gradient, which results in the occurrence of exosmosis in a cell.

Endosmosis is the movement of a solvent across a semi-permeable membrane from a region outside a cell where there is high solvent, low solute into a cell where is high solvent, low solute into a cell of high solute and low solvent.

Endosmosis is a type of osmosis that helps to increase the turgor pressure of a cell since the water entering into the cell pushes the cytoplasm against the cell membrane and cell wall.

Exosmosis is the movement of a solvent across a semi-permeable membrane from inside a cell of high solvent low solute to outside the cell where there is a low solvent, high solute. The inside of the cell is hypotonic to the outside of the cell. It helps to move water out of the cell into the external environment. If exosmosis occurs to rapidly or too much, plasmolysis will occur.

Endosmosis is the passage of a substance through a membrane, and it is the inward passage of liquid through a membrane of a cell that contains a fluid of a different density. The fluid on the outside is passing through the cell wall and going into a more concentrated liquid. A good example would be putting raisins into the water, where the water seeps into the raisin, and they become puffy.

Exosmosis would be the opposite where the fluid in the cell flows outward, and the cell shrinks. So, if we go back to the plump raisin placed in saltwater would make the fluids flow from the interior to the outside, and the raisins would revert to their original shrunken form.

The solvent moves into a cell in endosmosis while the solvent moves out of a cell in exosmosis. Concentrate of solute is higher in the cell for endosmosis, unlike exosmosis, where the solute concentration is higher outside the cell. Water potential is higher inside the cell for exosmosis and lowers outside the cell while water potential is lower inside the cell for endosmosis but higher outside the cell. The cell becomes swollen and burst, especially in animal cells, in the case of endosmosis. While in exosmosis, the cell shrinks.

In plants, exosmosis occurs by the movement of water out of root hair cells into the cortex, while endosmosis occurs by movement of water into root hair cells from the soil. In animals, saltwater fishes are expected to undergo exosmosis, while freshwater fishes do undergo endosmosis. In humans, humans would suffer water intoxication if they undergo too much endosmosis, while if there is too much exosmosis, they will suffer dehydration.