what is relative tonicity
Micrographs of osmotic pressure on red blood cells. Tonicity is a measure of the effective osmotic pressure gradient (as defined by the water potential of the two solutions) of two solutions separated by a semipermeable membrane.In other words, tonicity is the relative concentration of solutions that determine the direction and extent of diffusion.nlike osmotic pressure, tonicity is influenced only by solutes that cannot cross the membrane, as only these exert an effective osmotic pressure. Solutes able to freely cross the membrane do not affect tonicity because they will always be in equal concentrations on both sides of the membrane.