Why a Chest Tube is Placed. A chest tube is placed for a variety of reasons. One reason, as you mentioned, is to help the lung re-inflate when someone has a collapsed lung, also known as a pneumothorax. In that circumstance, a chest tube is inserted along the side of the ribs to allow the lung to reinflate.
A. Osmosis is the passive movement of water from an area high in water concentration, across a semi-permeable membrane, to an area low in water concentration.
Passive diffusion is the process by which molecules move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. Passive diffusion is a spontaneous process. (Passive diffusion requires the presence of a transmembrane protein.)