The reflection coefficient was originally introduced by Staverman to describe the movement of nonelectrolytes through membranes. When this coefficient is extended to salts, one has a choice of defining this term for the whole salt moving as a single electrically neutral component or for the individual ions of the salt. The latter definition is meaningful only in the absence of an electric field across the permeability barrier. This condition may be achieved with the voltage clamp or short-circuit technique and is especially useful in dealing with biological systems in which one rarely has only a single salt or even equal concentrations of the major anion and cation. The relations between the transport coefficients for the salt and its individual ions are derived. The special conditions which may result in negative osmosis through a charged membrane in the presence of a salt are discussed.
Article|
March 01 1966
The Relation between Salt and Ionic Transport Coefficients
Ora Kedem,
Ora Kedem
From the Departments of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
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Alexander Leaf
Alexander Leaf
From the Departments of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
Search for other works by this author on:
Ora Kedem
From the Departments of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
Alexander Leaf
From the Departments of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
Dr. Kedem's permanent address is the Polymer Department, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovoth, Israel
Received:
July 26 1965
Online ISSN: 1540-7748
Print ISSN: 0022-1295
Copyright © 1966 by The Rockefeller University Press
1966
J Gen Physiol (1966) 49 (4): 655–662.
Article history
Received:
July 26 1965
Citation
Ora Kedem, Alexander Leaf; The Relation between Salt and Ionic Transport Coefficients . J Gen Physiol 1 March 1966; 49 (4): 655–662. doi: https://doi.org/10.1085/jgp.49.4.655
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