How does the water potential of pure water compare to solutions with dissolved solutes?

✅Explanation: The water potential (Ψ) of pure water at standard temperature and pressure is defined as zero. This serves as the reference point for comparing the water potential of other solutions. Water potential is a measure of the potential energy of water in a system and is influenced by the presence of solutes and pressure.

🔑Key Points::

• Pure Water:
-Water potential is zero because there are no solutes or external pressures affecting its energy.

• Solutions with Dissolved Solutes:
-The presence of solutes lowers the water potential, making it negative. Solutes reduce the free energy of water molecules by creating osmotic potential, which decreases water's ability to move freely.

🛑Aditional Information:
-Water potential is a measure of the potential energy of water in a system compared to pure water, where the water potential is zero. The addition of solutes to water lowers its water potential, which is a critical concept in understanding osmosis and plant-water relations.
-Solute potential (also known as osmotic potential) is the component of water potential that is due to the presence of solute molecules. It is always negative because solutes lower the water potential of a solution.
-The magnitude of solute potential depends on the concentration of solute particles in the solution. The more solute particles present, the lower the solute potential.