Explain : Imbibition

Explanation

Imbibition is a special type of diffusion when water is absorbed by solids - colloids - causing them to enormously increase in volume.
It is a special type of diffusion.
The classical examples of imbibition are absorption of water by seeds and dry wood.
The pressure that is produced by the swelling of wood had been used by prehistoric man to split rocks and boulders.
If it were not for the pressure due to imbibition, seedlings would not have been able to emerge out of the soil into the open.
They probably would not have been able to establish Imbibition is also diffusion since water movement is along a concentration gradient.
The seeds and other such materials have almost no water hence they absorb water very easily.
Water potential gradient between the absorbent and the liquid imbibed is essential for imbibition.
For any substance to imbibe any liquid, affinity between the absorbent and the liquid is also a pre-requisite.