What will be the direction of water movement between two points A and B, if soil moisture tensions at A and B are 15 and 10 bar, respectively?

 



Water potential (always –ve; the maximum value is 0) indicates the energy of water to do some work. Soil water tension (always +ve; value is as same as water potential) is the force with which water is held in a non-saline soil. Hence, soil water potential and tension are like equal forces acting in the opposite direction (by virtue of potential, water will try to move from one point to other; but by virtue of tension, the soil will not let it to do that). Therefore, water will move from higher potential (in the above question, -10 bar at B) to lower potential (-15 bar at A) as more energy is available at B to do some work. Similarly, with respect to tension, water will move from lower soil moisture tension (10 bar at B) to higher soil moisture tension (15 bar at A) as at B water is held with less force as compared to point A.