Osmosis works on a similar principle whilst active transport is essentially the opposite. An example of a process that uses diffusion is the transfer of oxygen from the lungs into the blood. The diagram below illustrates the diffusion process: Osmosis Osmosis is very similar to diffusion and works on the same principles. Why would the mass of a piece of potato change when it is placed in different sugar solutions? It's all due to a process called osmosis and the movement of water from a high water potential to a place of low water potential, passing through a partially permeable membrane. So what does this mean? What are the differences and similarities between osmosis , active transport and diffusion? Osmosis is a term used to describe the movement of water molecules from a high water potential to a low water potential. In summary, the loop of Henle is surrounded by tissue fluid which has a high concentration of ions in it. This causes water to move out of the descending limb by osmosis . This produces a more concentrated filtrate because of this, ions move out of the loop in the thin ascending limb.
