The osmotic pressure is important for maintaining the concentration of substances, which affect the osmotic balance in body fluids, such as blood, through the uptake and elimination of water as well as regulating the concentration of such compounds. The osmolality is defined as the number of these substances exhibiting osmotic activity per kilogram of solvent (generally water). The size or type of substances is of no significance for the osmotic pressure, only the number (atoms, ions or molecules in solution, such as salt, sugar, proteins and ethanol).
Determination of the osmolality of beverages
Suitable for carbonated and non-carbonated beverages
Osmolality is defined as the number of particles of osmotically active substances per kilogram of a solvent (usually water). The size or type of particles is irrelevant for the osmotic pressure, only the number of particles (cations, anions, sugars, organic acids, amino acids, proteins, ethanol, etc.) is of importance. The presence of substances dissolved in an aqueous solution lowers the freezing point, as compared with pure water. The freezing point is lowered in proportion to the amount of dissolved particles or molecules. For this reason, measuring the freezing point of a solution provides a means for calculating the concentration of dissolved particles. The more dissolved particles there are in a solution, the greater the drop in freezing point.