Question

Wooden doors swell up and get stuck during rainy season due to
A. Endosmosis
B. Imbibition
C. Capillarity
D. Exosmosis

Answer 1

Hint: In the rainy season when there is high humidity, and an abundance of moisture in the air, the wooden doors get tight because they absorb moisture. It is a temporary process, as the door shrinks as soon as the humidity decreases.

Complete Answer:
- The swelling of wooden doors is caused by the process of imbibition. Imbibition is the absorption of water by solid particles of a substance without forming a solution. The two essential things for imbibition are absorbent (wooden frame) and liquid imbibed (water). Some examples are swelling of wooden furniture, doors, windows, and frames of doors, etc.
- The absorption of water by seeds and dry wood is also an example of imbibition. Seedlings emerge from the soil due to the pressure by imbibition.
- The Water surface potential movement occurs along a concentration gradient and some dry materials absorb water. A gradient between the absorbent and the liquid is necessary for imbibition. For a substance to imbibe a liquid, there must first be some form of attraction between them.
- Another example of imbibition in nature is the absorption of water by hydrophilic colloids. Matrix potential contributes significantly to water in such substances. Imbibition can also control circadian rhythms in Arabidopsis thaliana and (probably) other plants.
- Due to the high imbibition capacities in proteins, proteinaceous pea seeds swell more than starchy wheat seeds. Starch has less and cellulose has the least imbibing capacity.
- Imbibition of water increases imbibing volume, which results in imbibitional pressure (IP). The magnitude of such pressure can be demonstrated by the splitting of rocks by inserting dry wooden stalks in their crevices and soaking them in water, a technique used by early Egyptians to cleave stone blocks.
- Skin grafts obtain oxygenation and nutrition via imbibition, maintaining cellular viability until the processes of inosculation and revascularization have re-established a new blood supply within these tissues.

Hence, the correct option is B, ‘Imbibition’.

Note: In short, it can be said that imbibition occurs when a wetting fluid displaces a non-wetting fluid. The imbibing has a high negative water potential called the matric potential. An increase in temperature is also necessary for the imbibition to occur.