the.com/osmolality
The reason your cells either swell like sponges or shrivel like raisins.
means A measure of how many dissolved particles are packed into a kilogram of fluid, which determines which way water flows across a membrane.
from Built from 'osmo-', drawn from Greek 'osmos' meaning 'push' or 'thrust' (the same root as 'osmosis'), fused with '-ality' to make it an abstract, measurable noun. The term entered chemistry and physiology as scientists needed precise language for concentration measured per kilogram of solvent — a cousin, but not a twin, of 'osmolarity', which measures the same push per liter of solution instead.
- unit
- measured in milliosmoles per kilogram of solvent
- blood normal
- roughly 275 to 295 mOsm per kg
- vs osmolarity
- per kilogram of water, not per liter of solution
- body's gauge
- hypothalamus monitors it to trigger thirst and ADH