Chapter 1

Movement into and out of the cells.

Diffusion:
movement of particles from higher concentration to lower concentration area
(i.e down a concentration gradient)

What is diffusion used for?

Inside organisms substances such as the gases and solutes transfer into and out of the cell by diffusion

When oxygen concentration outside of animal cells is higher than oxygen concentration inside the cell,
to reach balance the the oxygen molecules diffuse from outside of the cell into the cell.
concentration gradient
An imaginery slop from a high concentration
to a low concentration.

Note/
• The more kinetic energy the particles have the higher is the rate of diffusion,
because the energy for diffusion come from the kinetic energy of molecules and ions.
• Diffusion doesn’t require a membrane.

Factros that influence diffusion:

1. Surface area 2. Temperature 3. Concentration gradient. 4. Distance
Osmosis :
movement of water molecules from higher water potential to lower water potential area.

Osmosis requires a partially permeable membrane that only allows water molecules to pass through.

In dialysis tubing, the holes are big enough to let the water molecules through, but not the sugar
molecules. Dialysis tubing is called a partially permeable membrane because it will let some molecules
through but not others.
Water potential

• The term concentration is normally used to mean the concentration of the solute dissolved in the water.

• We say that a dilute solution (where there is a lot of water) has a high water potential

• A concentrated solution (where there is less water) has a low water potential.
 Water potential gradient
An imaginary slop from high water potential
to a low water potential

There is a water potential gradient between the two sides.

The water molecules diffuse down this gradient, from high water potential to low water potential.
Differences between diffusion and osmosis

• Osmosis requires a partially permeable membrane that only allows water molecules to pass through ,
while diffusion doesn’t require a membrane.

• Osmosis is the movement of water particles from high water potential to low, while diffusion is the
movement of solute molecules from high concentration to low concentration
Osmosis in animal cells
1. When animal cell burst

The figure shows an animal cell in pure water

• Inside the cell is more concentrated because it has

Proteins and other substances that dissolved in it
(they are too large to get through the membrane)

• Water molecules will diffuse from the dilute solution into

the concentrated solution

• As more and more water enters the cell, it swells.

The cell membrane has to stretch as the cell gets bigger, until
eventually the strain is too much, and the cell bursts.
Osmosis in animal cells
2. When animal cell shrinks

The figure shows an animal cell in concentrated solution

• If this solution is more concentrated than the cytoplasm,

then water molecules will diffuse out of the cell.

• As the water molecules go out through the cell membrane,

the cytoplasm shrinks, so the cell gets smaller.
Osmosis in plant cells
1.Turgid & turgid pressure

• a plant cell also has a cell membrane just like an animal cell. The cell membrane is partially permeable.

• A plant cell in pure water will take in water by osmosis through its partially permeable cell membrane in the same way
as an animal cell.

• As the water goes in, the cytoplasm and vacuole will swell. But it will not burst. How?
• the plant cell has a very strong cell wall around it. The cell wall is much stronger than the cell membrane
and it stops the plant cell from bursting
Osmosis in plant cells
1.Turgid & turgid pressure

The cytoplasm presses out against the cell wall, but the wall resists and presses back on the contents.

A plant cell in this state is rather like a blown-up lyre - tight and firm. It is said to be turgid

The pressure of the water pushing outwards on the cell wall is called turgor pressure.

Turgor pressure helps a plant that has no wood in it to stay upright and keeps the leaves firm. Plant cells are
usually turgid.
Osmosis in plant cells
2. Flaccid

Now imagine that a plant cell is placed in a solution that is more concentrated than its cytoplasm.

Water leaves the cell by osmosis.

The cytoplasm and vacuole shrink. But the cell wall is strong and stays in position. The cytoplasm therefore pulls away
from the cell wall. This pulls the membrane away from the cell wall

When a plant cell loses a lot of water, it also loses its turgor pressure. so the cell becomes soft and floppy.
It is said to be flaccid. If the cells in a plant become flaccid, the plant loses its firmness and begins to wilt.
Osmosis in plant cells
3. Plasmolysis

When the cell membrane tears away from the cell wall (extreme situation) , the cell is said to be plasmolysed.
Plasmolysis can kill a plant cell because the cell membrane is damaged as it tears away from the cell wall.

• Osmosis from outside of the cell to inside causes death to animal cells,
while its important for plant cells as it makes them turgid

• Osmosis from inside to outside of the cell causes animal cells to shrink,
makes plant cells lose turgor pressure and become flaccid which eventually causes plasmolysis
Active transport
If the substance has a lower concentration outside the cell than inside, then we would expect the substance to
diffuse out of the cell.

If the cell needs this substance, then it must do something to make it go into the cell instead of diffusing out of it.

Cells can use energy to make substances move across their membranes, up the concentration gradient.
This process is called active transport.

Where does cell get energy?

.The energy needed to do this is provided by respiration (aerobic respiration) process.
Aerobic respiration happens inside mitochondria in the cell, releases energy for the cell to use.
Some of this energy is used for active transport, moving substances against their concentration gradients
Carrier protein

In plants, for example, root hair cells take in nitrate ions from the soil. The concentration of nitrate ions inside the
root hair cell is usually higher than their concentration in the soil. The diffusion gradient for the nitrate ions is out
of the root hair, and into the soil. But the root hair cells are still able to take nitrate ions in, using active transport.

There are special carrier proteins in the cell membrane of the root hair cells. These proteins pick up nitrate ions
from outside the cell, and then change shape so that they push the nitrate ions through the cell membrane and
into the cytoplasm of the cell. Energy - provided by the mitochondria, which carry out aerobic respiration - is
needed to produce the shape change in the carrier protein.
Important for active transport:
• It’s against concentration gradient.
• There should be a carrier protein in the membrane.
• It requires energy from the aerobic respiration of the cell