Diffusion

What is Diffusion in Biology?

● Diffusion is the movement of molecules from a region of its higher concentration
to a region of its lower concentration
● Molecules move down a concentration gradient, as a result of their random
movement

Diffusion across the cell membrane

● For living cells, the principle of the movement down a concentration gradient is
the same, but the cell is surrounded by a cell membrane which can restrict the
free movement of the molecules
● The cell membrane is a partially permeable membrane - this means it allows
some molecules to cross easily, but others with difficulty or not at all
● The simplest sort of selection is based on the size of the molecules
● Diffusion helps living organisms to:
○ obtain many of their requirements
○ get rid of many of their waste products
○ carry out gas exchange for respiration
Examples of diffusion in living organisms
● You will need to learn examples of substances that organisms obtain by diffusion
● Don’t forget that plants require oxygen for respiration at all times, as well as
carbon dioxide for photosynthesis when conditions for photosynthesis are right
(e.g. enough light and a suitable temperature)

Examples of Diffusion Table

Where does the energy for diffusion come from?

● All particles move randomly at all times
● This is known as Brownian motion
● The energy for diffusion comes from the kinetic energy of this random movement
of molecules and ions
 Brownian motion

Factors that Influence Diffusion

Surface area to volume ratio
● The bigger a cell or structure is, the smaller its surface area to volume ratio is,
slowing down the rate at which substances can move across its surface
● Many cells which are adapted for diffusion have increased surface area in some
way - eg root hair cells in plants (which absorb water and mineral ions) and cells
lining the ileum in animals (which absorb the products of digestion)
 Cell adaptations for diffusion

The highly folded surface of the small intestine increases its surface area

Distance
 ● The smaller the distance molecules have to travel the faster transport will occur
● This is why blood capillaries and alveoli have walls which are only one cell thick,
ensure the rate of diffusion across them is as fast as possible

Temperature
● The higher the temperature, the faster molecules move as they have more
energy
● This results in more collisions against the cell membrane and therefore a faster
rate of movement across them

Concentration Gradient
● The greater the difference in concentration on either side of the membrane, the
faster movement across it will occur
● This is because on the side with the higher concentration, more random
collisions against the membrane will occur

Exam Tip
You should have carried out investigations into the factors that influence the rate of
diffusion and as so should be able to use the information above to explain experimental
results in an exam. You should also be able to plan and carry out an experiment which
can investigate the effect of one of these factors.

Water as a Solvent
● Water is important for all living organisms as many substances are able to
dissolve in it (it is a solvent)
● This makes it incredibly useful and essential for all life on Earth
● Water is important as a solvent in the following situations within organisms:
○ Dissolved substances can be easily transported around organisms - eg
xylem and phloem of plants and dissolved food molecules in the blood
○ Digested food molecules are in the alimentary canal but need to be moved
to cells all over the body - without water as a solvent this would not be
able to happen
○ Toxic substances such as urea and substances in excess of requirements
such as salts can dissolve in water which makes them easy to remove
from the body in urine
○ Water is also an important part of the cytoplasm and plays a role in
ensuring metabolic reactions can happen as necessary in cells
 Water as a solvent

Osmosis
● All cells are surrounded by a cell membrane which is partially permeable
● Water can move in and out of cells by osmosis
● Osmosis is the diffusion of water molecules from a dilute solution (high
concentration of water) to a more concentrated solution (low concentration of
water) across a partially permeable membrane
● In doing this, water is moving down its concentration gradient
 ● The cell membrane is partially permeable which means it allows small molecules
(like water) through but not larger molecules (like solute molecules)

Osmosis and the partially permeable membrane

Osmosis Experiments
Immersing plant cells in solutions of different concentrations
● The most common osmosis practical involves cutting cylinders of root vegetables
such as potato or radish and placing them into distilled water and sucrose
solutions of increasing concentration
● The cylinders are weighed before placing into the solutions
● They are left in the solutions for 20 - 30 minutes and then removed, dried to
remove excess liquid and reweighed
Potatoes are usually used in osmosis experiments to show how the concentration of a
solution affects the movement of water, but radishes can be used too

● If the plant tissue gains mass:

○ Water must have moved into the plant tissue from the solution surrounding
it by osmosis
○ The solution surrounding the tissue is more dilute than the plant tissue
(which is more concentrated)
● If plant tissue loses mass:
○ Water must have moved out of the plant tissue into the solution
surrounding it by osmosis
 ○ The solution surrounding the tissue is more concentrated than the plant
tissue (which is more dilute)
● If there is no overall change in mass:
○ There has been no net movement of water as the concentration in both
the plant tissue and the solution surrounding it must be equal
○ Remember that water will still be moving into and out of the plant tissue,
but there wouldn’t be any net movement in this case

Investigating osmosis using dialysis tubing

● Dialysis tubing (sometimes referred to as visking tubing) is a non-living partially
permeable membrane made from cellulose
● Pores in this membrane are small enough to prevent the passage of large
molecules (such as sucrose) but allow smaller molecules (such as glucose and
water) to pass through by diffusion and osmosis
● This can be demonstrated by:
○ Filling a section of dialysis tubing with concentrated sucrose solution
○ Suspending the tubing in a boiling tube of water for a set period of time
○ Noting whether the water level outside the tubing decreases as water
moves into the tubing via osmosis
■ Water moves from a region of higher water potential (dilute
solution) to a region of lower water potential (concentrated
solution), through a partially permeable membrane

An example setup of a dialysis tubing experiment

Osmosis in Plant Tissues

● When water moves into a plant cell, the vacuole gets bigger, pushing the cell
membrane against the cell wall
● Water entering the cell by osmosis makes the cell rigid and firm
● This is important for plants as the effect of all the cells in a plant being firm is to
provide support and strength for the plant - making the plant stand upright with its
leaves held out to catch sunlight
● The pressure created by the cell wall stops too much water entering and
prevents the cell from bursting
● If plants do not receive enough water the cells cannot remain rigid and firm
(turgid) and the plant wilts

Osmosis: Extended
● Osmosis is the net movement of water molecules from a region of higher water
potential (dilute solution) to a region of lower water potential (concentrated
solution), through a partially permeable membrane
● It can get a little confusing to talk about the 'concentration of water' when we also
talk about solutions being ‘concentrated’ (having a lot of solute in them), so
instead we can say that a dilute solution has a high water potential (the
right-hand side of the diagram below) and a concentrated solution has a low
water potential (the left-hand side of the diagram below)
 How osmosis works

Exam Tip
The best explanations to do with osmosis will refer to water potential, so if you are
aiming for a 7, 8 or 9 you will need to understand the concept and use it in your
explanations.
Osmosis in Animals & Plants: Extended
Plant cells in solutions of different concentrations
● When plant cells are placed in a solution that has a higher water potential (dilute
solution) than inside the cells (e.g. distilled water) then water moves into the plant
cells via osmosis
● These water molecules push the cell membrane against the cell wall, increasing
the turgor pressure in the cells which makes them turgid
 A turgid plant cell

● When plant cells are placed in a concentrated solution (with a lower water
potential than inside the cells) water molecules will move out of the plant cells by
osmosis, making them flaccid
○ If plant cells become flaccid it can negatively affect the plant's ability to
support itself
● If looked at underneath the microscope, the plant cells might be plasmolysed,
meaning the cell membrane has pulled away from the cell wall
 A plasmolysed plant cell

Animal cells in solutions of different concentrations

● Animal cells also lose and gain water as a result of osmosis
● As animal cells do not have a supporting cell wall, the results on the cell are
more severe
● If an animal cell is placed into a strong sugar solution (with a lower water
potential than the cell), it will lose water by osmosis and become crenated
(shrivelled up)
● If an animal cell is placed into distilled water (with a higher water potential than
the cell), it will gain water by osmosis and, as it has no cell wall to create turgor
pressure, will continue to do so until the cell membrane is stretched too far and it
bursts

Effect of osmosis on animal cells

 Active Transport
● Active transport is the movement of particles through a cell membrane from a
region of lower concentration to a region of higher concentration using energy
from respiration

The process of active transport

Importance of Active Transport: Extended

● Energy is needed because particles are being moved against a concentration
gradient, in the opposite direction from which they would naturally move (by
diffusion)
 ● Active transport is vital process for the movement of molecules or ions across
membranes
● Including:

○ uptake of glucose by epithelial cells in the villi of the small intestine and by
kidney tubules in the nephron
○ uptake of ions from soil water by root hair cells in plants

Protein Carriers: Extended

● Active transport works by using carrier proteins embedded in the cell membrane
to pick up specific molecules and take them through the cell membrane against
their concentration gradient:
1. Substance combines with carrier protein molecule in the cell membrane
2. Carrier transports substances across membrane using energy from
respiration to give them the kinetic energy needed to change shape and
move the substance through the cell membrane
3. Substance released into cell

Carrier proteins in active transport

Exam Tip
You don't need to know anything about the phospholipid bilayer when it comes to active
transport!