Abstract
Proposed: free, unconstrained molecules exist in pure liquids and solids. This new molecular model is a direct development from using vapor pressure as a primary variable for understanding seed storage and osmosis. Current seed models consider relative humidity as an important variable. Current understanding of osmosis considers chemical potential, concentration, and osmotic pressure as important variables.
My new concepts began 25 years ago with an engineering consulting project to design and build a warehouse for storing seeds. Solutions for design changes and supplier errors led to a new viewpoint: vapor pressure is an important variable for understanding stored seed. After extending this idea to modeling moisture transfer between a seed and its environment and two rejected papers about seeds, my model was different from the current textbook explanation for moisture transfer across a membrane: osmosis. After studying osmosis and its history, I concluded that vapor pressure is the driving force for moisture transfer across a membrane. The vapor pressure concept introduces a physical model for the osmosis process.
All I did was reexamine seeds and osmosis from a new viewpoint. Vapor pressure was introduced as an important variable. Since vapor pressure is the force per unit area resulting from molecular collisions, and osmosis occurs with liquid on both sides of the membrane, I proposed that free molecules must exist in pure liquids and solids.
