Unit 03 - Movement Into and Out of Cells
Unit 03 - Movement Into and Out of Cells
Unit 3
Diffusion
If a crystal of potassium permanganate (KMnO4) is dropped into a beaker of water it
dissolves and gradually the purple colour of the permanganate spreads until eventually it is
uniformly distributed. The reason is that permanganate ions move away from the crystal.
This is because of the random movement of ions.
This process is known as diffusion. We can define diffusion as the net movement of
molecules or ions from a region of their higher concentration to a region of their lower
concentration (i.e. down a concentration gradient), as a result of their random movement.
Diffusion is very important in the movement of molecules and ions in and out of the
cell. For example, a cell in the human body is continuously undergoing respiration. The
concentration of oxygen inside the cell will be lower than it is in the blood and tissue fluid.
The concentration gradient results in oxygen molecules diffusing into the cell from outside.
With carbon, dioxide the reverse is the truth.
3. Surface area to volume ratio: If there is a larger surface area to volume ratio, the
movement of the substance is likely to be quicker, especially in terms of diffusion, as
there is a larger space that particles can get past.
4. Distance: The rate of diffusion is inversely related to the distance through which the
material is diffusing. That is, smaller distances result in faster diffusion rates and
larger distances result in slower diffusion rates. This makes sense since a gas diffuses
through a thin wall much faster than it would diffuse through a thick wall.
Osmosis
Biological membranes are permeable to water, but there is no net movement of water
into and out of cells unless osmosis occurs, where the net movement of water molecules is
linked to the net movement and concentrations of solutes on either side the membrane.
level rises
level falls
• Water will diffuse from dilute to a concentrated solution through the partially
permeable membrane.
• As a result, the liquid level rises on the left side and falls on the right.
Osmosis can be defined as the net movement of water molecules from a region of
higher water potential to a region of lower water potential, through a partially permeable
membrane.
• Soil solution has a higher water potential than cells of the epidermis including the
root hair. Water, therefore, enters the root from the soil by osmosis.
• If you place a cell in a highly concentrated sugar or salt solution, the solution outside
the cell has a lower water potential than the solution inside it.
• The water molecules move by osmosis from the higher water potential to the lower
water potential. So water molecules move out of the cell into the solution.
• This make the content of the cell shrink. As the cell loses more and more water, the
cytoplasm and vacuole get smaller and smaller.
• If water keeps on going out of the cell and the cytoplasm keeps on shrinking, the cell
surface membrane eventually be pulled away from the cell wall. When this happens,
the cell is said to be plasmolyzed.
These onion cells have been placed in a concentrated solution. The cytoplasm
has shrunk inwards, leaving big gaps between itself and the cell walls (x300)
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• Plant cell is surrounded by a cell wall. This cell wall is part of what gives plants such
a rigid and sturdy structure.
• Plant cells need a certain amount of pressure to make sure that the cell wall stays
rigid, pressure from the fluid within the cell pushing against the cell wall is
called turgor pressure.
• Flaccid plant cell is one in which the plasma membrane is not pressed tightly against
the cell wall. This is observed when the plant cell is placed in an isotonic solution
wherein the concentration of solutes on the outside is the same as that in the inside of
a plant cell.
Root hair cells are in contact with water trapped between soil particles. When the
water potential of the cell sap is lower than that of the soil water, the water will enter the
cells by osmosis providing the plant with the water it needs.
⎯ Push the potato tissue out of the cork borer using a pencil as in Figure 3.13(b).
Prepare six potato cylinders in this way and cut them all to the same length. (They
should be at least 50 mm long.)
⎯ Measure them carefully.
⎯ Label six test tubes with the concentration of sucrose solution in them and place
them in a test-tube rack.
a. 0.0 mol dm –3
b. 0.2 mol dm –3
c. 0.4 mol dm –3
d. 0.6 mol dm –3
e. 0.8 mol dm –3
f. 1.0 mol dm –3
⎯ Add the same volume of the correct sucrose solution to each test tube.
⎯ Weigh a cylinder of potato, record its mass and place it in the first test tube. Repeat
until all the test tubes have been set up.
⎯ Leave the tubes for at least 30 minutes.
⎯ After this time, remove the potato cylinder from the first tube, surface dry the potato,
and re-weigh it. Notice also whether it is firm or flabby.
⎯ Repeat this for the other potato cylinders.
⎯ Calculate the change in mass and the percentage change in mass for each cylinder.
⎯ Plot the results on a graph with sucrose concentration on the horizontal axis and
percentage change in mass on the vertical axis.
Note: there will be negative as well as positive percentage changes in mass, so your graph
axes will have to allow for this.
Result
The cylinders in the weaker sucrose solutions will have gained mass and feel firm.
One of the cylinders may have shown no change in mass. The cylinders in the more
concentrated sucrose solutions will have lost mass and feel limp.
Interpretation
⎯ If the cells of the potato have absorbed water by osmosis, there will be an increase in
the mass of the potato cylinder.
⎯ This happens when the external solution has a higher water potential than that inside
the potato cells. (The sucrose solution is less concentrated than the contents of the
potato cells.) Water molecules move into each cell through the cell membrane. The
water molecules move from a higher water potential to lower water potential. The
cells become turgid, so the cylinder feels firm.
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If the cells of the potato have lost water by osmosis, there will be a decrease in the
mass of the potato cylinder. This happens when the external solution has a lower
water potential than that inside the potato cells. (The sucrose solution is more
concentrated than the contents of the potato cells.) Water molecules move out of each
cell through the cell membrane. The water molecules move from a higher water
potential to lower water potential. The cells become plasmolyzed or flaccid, so the
cylinder feels flabby.
High concentration
ATP ADP
• Plants, however, can take the nitrate ions in opposite direction, against the
concentration gradient.
• This process is called active transport. It needs the energy to obtain from aerobic
respiration. We can define active transport as, the movement of molecules or ions into
or out of a cell through the cell membrane, from a region of low concentration to a
region of their higher concentration (i.e. against a concentration gradient) using the
energy released during respiration.
• Another example of active transport is the uptake of glucose molecules from the
small intestine (epithelial cells of villi) into the blood. Without respiration, active
transport will be impossible because it needs energy (ATP).