How does osmosis conserve energy?

Answer 1

Osmosis is a form of diffusion. Assuming one is talking about cells, diffusion is the process of shifting something from a high concentration to a low concentration. Nature tries to maintain homeostasis, or a balance. Osmosis allows water to move from an area of high concentration, either inside or outside the cell membrane, to an area of low concentration so that there is an equal amount of water both inside the cell and outside. This needs to happen because if id did not, the cell would either explode, assuming its an animal cell, from too much water, or shrivel up from a lack of it.

Now back to the actual question. Diffusion happens naturally, just as hot air rises and cold are drops. There is no or little energy used by the cell. If it needed more or less water inside the membrane than outside. It would need to use energy to do this. Think of it this way. The cell is a cup of coffee and the water is heat energy. Naturally, the coffee would let off heat, making it colder and the air around it warmer until both the coffee and the air are the same temperature. However, if you want to keep the coffee hot (in this case, keep the water molecules within the membrane), you need s hot plate or something which would use energy to keep the heat in. This is not a perfect example but it works to a degree.

Hope this helped!