Solution:

Option (c) is the answer.

Water potential is the term for water’s free energy. Water potential is also known as water’s chemical potential. The kinetic energy or water potential of a system increases as the amount of water in it increases. The soil’s water potential is measured in terms of pressure. The water potential of pure water at standard temperature and no pressure is assumed to be 0 by convention. When a solute is dissolved in pure water, the solution contains fewer free water molecules, lowering the water concentration and lowering the water potential.