Fluid Mechanics

To understand the conditions for reverse osmosis, we need to consider the principle of osmosis and how reverse osmosis works.

Osmosis: Osmosis is the movement of solvent molecules through a semipermeable membrane from a region of lower solute concentration to a region of higher solute concentration. This process occurs to equalize solute concentrations on both sides of the membrane.

Reverse Osmosis: Reverse osmosis is the process of forcing solvent molecules to move from a region of higher solute concentration to a region of lower solute concentration by applying external pressure that exceeds the osmotic pressure.

The osmotic pressure is given by:

Where:

• is the van’t Hoff factor.
• is the concentration of the solution.
• is the ideal gas constant.
• is the temperature in Kelvin.

In the question, Chamber 1 contains a higher concentration of sugar solution ( ) than Chamber 2 ( ), i.e., .

To achieve reverse osmosis, the pressure applied on Chamber 1 should exceed the osmotic pressure:

Since the correct option must satisfy this condition and mentions the type of membrane used, the correct answer is:

Membrane/Partition: Parchment paper,

Thus, to perform reverse osmosis, the pressure in Chamber 1 must be greater than the osmotic pressure using an appropriate membrane like parchment paper.