Which of the following is a property of osmosis?

Osmosis is specifically defined as the movement of water molecules across a semi-permeable membrane from an area of lower solute concentration to an area of higher solute concentration. This process is crucial for maintaining cellular function and homeostasis in biological systems. The semi-permeable membrane allows only certain molecules, such as water, to pass through while restricting others, thus enabling the concentration gradients to influence water movement. Understanding this key concept highlights that osmosis is not just a passive process, but one that is essential for balancing the concentrations of solutes in various environments, both in living organisms and in other contexts.

The other options do not capture the essence of osmosis as accurately: energy is not required for osmosis since it relies on the natural kinetic energy of water molecules; solutes themselves do not move across the membrane in osmosis; and while osmosis is often discussed in the context of living cells, it can also occur in various non-biological systems where similar conditions are present.