3 Movement in and out of cells

3.1 Diffusion
 Define diffusion as the net movement of particles from a region of their
higher concentration to a region of their lower concentration down a
concentration gradient, as a result of their random movement
 Describe the importance of diffusion of gases and solutes
 State that substances move into and out of cells by diffusion through the
cell membrane
 State that the energy for diffusion comes from the kinetic energy of
random movement of molecules and ions
 Investigate the factors that influence diffusion, limited to surface area,
temperature, concentration gradients and distance

Define diffusion
Diffusion is the net movement of particles from a region of their higher
concentration to a region of their lower concentration down a concentration
gradient, as a result of their random movement.

Describe the importance of diffusion of gases and solutes

[The difference in concentration is
known as concentration gradient. If the
difference in concentration of two
regions is more, diffusion is faster.

All substances are made up of sub-

microscopic particles called molecules

 In gases (like air) the molecules

can move freely
 In liquids (like water) the molecules can also move
 In solids the molecules are more or less stationary
1. Sucrose is dissolved in water then sucrose is solutes.
2. Water is the solvent.
3. Sucrose is mixed in water is called solution.
Importance of water as a solvent:

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  Most cells contain about 75% of water;
 Many important metabolic reactions take place in aqueous solution;
 Many substances move around a cell dissolved in water (and also around
organisms, e.g. in blood, xylem & phloem).

A solution with a low solute concentration has a high water concentration, and a
high water potential. Pure water has the highest water potential.

A concentration gradient exists when there is a region of high concentration

leading to a region of low concentration:

 going from high to low concentration is going down the concentration gradient
 going from low to high concentration is going against the concentration
gradient]
2. Describe the importance of diffusion of gases and solutes and of water as a
solvent.
Distance (the shorter the better) e.g. thin walls of alveoli and the capillaries.
 Concentration gradient (the bigger the better). This can be maintained by
removing the substance as it passes across the diffusion surface.
 Size of the molecules (the smaller the better).
 Surface area for diffusion (the larger the better) e.g. there is millions of
alveoli in a lung, giving a huge surface area for diffusion of oxygen.
 Temperature (molecules have more kinetic energy at higher temperatures).
Importance of diffusion of gases and solutes:
Substance diffused Site of diffusion
Oxygen From the alveoli into blood capillaries
Carbon dioxide From blood capillaries into the alveoli.
From air, through stomata & into the
leaf for photosynthesis.
Soluble products of From small intestine to the blood
digestion capillaries.
Scent made of tiny From flowers into the bee’s body.
molecules

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 The importance of diffusion of gases and solutes:

Gases

 (Animals) Necessary for gas exchange in all living organisms (O2 in, CO2 out)
 (Plants) Necessary for obtaining Carbon Dioxide and releasing oxygen during
photosynthesis.

Solutes (liquids)

 Dissolved salts diffuse through root hair cell.

 Absorption of dissolved food material in many organisms, like amoeba, bacteria
and fungi is carried out through diffusion.
 Some digested food material is absorbed by diffusion

Diffusion occurs when particles spread. They move from a region where they are
in high concentration to a region where they are in low concentration. Diffusion
happens when the particles are free to move. This is true in gases and for
particles dissolved in solutions - but diffusion does not occur in solids.

Particles diffuse down a concentration gradient, from an area of high

concentration to an area of low concentration. This is how the smell of cooking
travels around the house from the kitchen, for example.

Diffusion through the cell membrane.

State that substances move into and out of cells by diffusion through the cell
membrane
Dissolved or gaseous substances have to pass through the cell membrane to get
into or out of a cell. Diffusion is one of the processes that allow this to happen.

Diffusion in plants.

 The high concentration of carbon dioxide

gas from the atmosphere is diffused into
the low concentration of leaf through the

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 stomata to the chloroplast during photosynthesis.
 The high concentration of water vapour and oxygen in the leaf is diffused
into the atmosphere through the stomata.

Diffusion in animals;
 The high concentration of oxygen present in the
air sacs (alveoli) of the lungs is diffused into the
low concentration of the blood to become
oxygenated blood.
 High concentration of carbon dioxide from
deoxygenated blood is diffused into the low
concentration lungs.
 Absorption of digested products from the ileum (small intestine).

Factors that influenced the rate of diffusion:

 Surface area – The larger the surface area of the exchange membrane the
faster particles diffuse.
 Temperature – Increasing the temperature will give particles more kinetic
energy, making them move faster, thus increasing the rate of diffusion.

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 Concentration gradient – The steeper the gradient the faster the particles
diffuse.
 Distance (Thickness of exchange membrane) – The thinner it is, the easier
it will be for particles to go through it, the faster the diffusion rate.)

The rate of diffusion

The rate of diffusion can be affected by several factors:
Factor How the factor affects the rate of diffusion

Concentration The greater the difference in concentration, the quicker the rate of
gradient diffusion.

The higher the temperature, the more kinetic energy the particles
Temperature
will have, so they will move and mix more quickly.

Surface area
of the cell
membrane
The greater the surface area, the faster the rate of diffusion.
separating
the different
regions

Diffusion, surface area and volume

In a bacterium, substances diffuse into and out of the bacterial cell across its
surface. Once inside, because of the bacterium's size, substances will need to
diffuse 1 μm or less to where they are needed, for instance oxygen for aerobic
respiration.
For simple multicellular organisms such as small plants like mosses, substances
diffuse into the leaves and simple roots over their surface. Again, once inside the
plant, they don't need to move far.
Substances move into and around the moss plants by diffusion and osmosis.
Simple organisms therefore take in substances all over their body surface. Their
needs are determined by their volume. As organisms increase in size, their surface
area does not increase at the same rate as their volume. The surface area to
volume ratio of a puppy is several times greater than that of an adult dog.
Question
Suggest why puppies are more at risk of losing body heat than adult dogs.
Dogs lose heat over their body surface.
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Puppies have a larger surface area to volume ratio than adult dogs, so will lose
heat more readily.
Cell models
It's straightforward to model the cells of organisms using cubes. By doing this we
can easily see how the surface area to volume ratio changes as organisms
increase in size.

We can investigate the effect of increasing size on surface area to volume ratios
using models based on cubes:

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So, as the volume increases, the surface area does not increase at the same rate.
If a graph is drawn:

3.2 Osmosis
Core
• • State that water diffuses through partially permeable membranes by
osmosis

• State that water moves in and out of cells by osmosis through the cell
membrane
• • Investigate and describe the effects on plant tissues of immersing them in
solutions of different concentrations
• • State that plants are supported by the pressure of water inside the cells
pressing outwards on the cell wall

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Supplement
• Define osmosis as 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

• Explain the effects on plant tissues of immersing them in solutions of

different concentrations by using the terms turgid, turgor pressure, plasmolysis
and flaccid
• • Explain the importance of water potential and osmosis in the uptake of
water by plants
• • Explain the importance of water potential and osmosis on animal cells
and tissues
• • Explain how plants are supported by the turgor pressure within cells, in
terms of water pressure acting against an inelastic cell wall

Osmosis
1.Define osmosis.
Movement of water molecules from a region of high water (concentration)
potential to a region of low water potential (concentration) through a partially
permeable membrane.

2. What are the common properties of osmosis?

It is the movement of only solvent or water from its higher concentration region
to the lower concentration.
Osmosis operates only in a liquid medium.
Osmosis applicable only to the solvent.
Semipermeable membrane is a must for osmosis.

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 Osmosis refers to the movement of water molecules only.

3. Explain the osmosis in living cells.

There are 3 different types of osmosis takes place in living cell. They are isotonic
osmosis, hypertonic osmosis, hypotonic osmosis.

Plant cell

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 When a plant cell is exposed to the same solute concentration as another
solution, there is no net movement of water particles is called isotonic osmosis.

When a plant cell is exposed to the solution that has a lower solute concentration
than another solution, water particles will move into the cell causing the cell to
expand is called hypotonic osmosis. In this case plant cell with the vacuole
pushing out on the cell wall is said to be turgid and the vacuole is exerting turgor
pressure on the cell wall.

Hypertonic osmosis: When a plant cell is exposed to the solution that has a higher
solute concentration than another solution, water particles will move out of the
cell causing plasmolysed.

Osmosis in animal cell

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Hypertonic solution isotonic solution Hypotonic
solution

Isotonic solution in animal

When a cell is placed in an isotinic solution the water diffuses in and out of the
cell at the same rate. So no change in size or shape of the cell.

Hypertoinc solution in animal:

There is a high water potential in the RBC than in the solution.

Therefore water molecules move from the RBC into the solution by osmosis. This
causes the red blood cells to shrink and become crenated.

Hypotonic solution in animal

There is high water potential in the solution than in the red blood cell.

Therefore water molecules move from the solution into the red blood cell by
osmosis.

This causes the red blood cell to swell and may also burst due to the abssence of
cell wall.

Osmosis
Osmosis is the diffusion of water molecules, from a region where the water
molecules are in higher concentration, to a region where they are in lower
concentration, through a partially permeable membrane.
A dilute solution contains a high concentration of water molecules and is said to
have a high water potential, while a concentrated solution contains a low
concentration of water molecules and so has a low water potential.

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Osmosis refers to the movement of water molecules only.
The slideshow shows an example of osmosis showing the direction of movement
of water between two different concentrations of sugar solutions:

Water molecules move from solution one to solution two.

When the concentration of water is the same on both sides of the membrane, the
movement of water molecules will be the same in both directions. There will be
no net movement of water molecules. In theory, the level of solution two will rise,
but this will be opposed by gravity and will be dependent on the width of the
container.
Similar observations will be made with solutions containing different solutes, for
instance, salt instead of sugar.
Osmosis across living cells
Cells contain dilute solutions of ions, sugars and amino acids so have a high water
potential.
The cell membrane is partially permeable.
Water will move into and out of cells by osmosis.
Plant cells
Isolated plant cells placed in a dilute solution or water will take in water by
osmosis. If the soil is wet or moist, root hair cells, will also take up water by
osmosis. Leaf cells of land plants, unless it is raining or the humidity is high, will
have a tendency to lose water.
Plant cells have a strong cellulose cell wall outside the cell membrane. The cell
wall is fully permeable to all molecules and supports the cell and stops it bursting
when it gains water by osmosis.
If plant cells are placed in solutions of increasing solute concentration:
Pure water

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In pure water, the cell contents - the cytoplasm and vacuole - push against the
cell wall and the cell becomes turgid.
Fully turgid cells support the stems of non-woody plants.
Concentrated solution
In a more concentrated solution (low water potential), the cell contents lose
water by osmosis. They shrink and pull away from the cell wall. The cell becomes
flaccid. It is becoming plasmolysed.
Highly concentrated solution
In a very concentrated solution, the cell undergoes full plasmolysis as the cells
lose more water.

Plants would be exposed to higher concentrations of solutes if there was less

water in the soil - for instance, if plants were not watered, or plants in drought
conditions. Plant cells would then lose water by osmosis.
Aquatic, freshwater plants placed in the sea, or a seaweed in a rock pool where
the water evaporated in the Sun, would also lose water by osmosis.
Animal cells
Animal cells also take in and lose water by osmosis. They do not have a cell wall,
so will change size and shape when put into solutions that are at a different
concentration to the cell contents.
For example, red blood cells:

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Red blood cells lose water and shrink in a concentrated solution. They swell and
burst in a solution that is too dilute.

In animals, the concentration of body fluids - blood plasma and tissue fluid - must
be kept within strict limits - if cells loose or gain too much water by osmosis, they
do not function efficiently.

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Active transport

The active transport is defined as the movement of particles through a cell

membrane from a region of lower concentration to a region of higher
concentration using energy from respiration. In active transport the particles
move against the concentration gradient and therefore require energy from the
cell.

Active transport in plant

 The mineral salts are absorbed by the root hairs from the surrounding
soil.
 Water enters by osmosis. Mineral salts enter by active transport. The
concentration of mineral salt in the root is higher than in the soil solution.
 The flow of mineral salt is upward by active transport in xylem.

Active transport in human

The digested food in the ileum is absorbed by villi.

The glucose is absorbed by active transport into the villi, and passed into the
blood stream around the body.

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