Cellular transport notes

welcome back to another blog! i found my biology notes for my finals so i thought i’d share

If a cell were a house, the plasma membrane would be walls with windows and doors. Moving things in and out of the cell is an important role of the plasma membrane. It controls everything that enters and leaves the cell. There are two basic ways that substances can cross the plasma membrane: passive transport, which requires no energy; and active transport, which requires energy.

Active vs. Passive Transport! When transport does not require energy, it’s “passive transport”. When it does require energy, it’s called “active transport”. Several transportation strategies require energy and several do not. Osmosis and diffusion are both passive transport; they do not require energy but can only move particles from higher to lower concentration. By using ATP as an energy source, we can move larger or charged particles, and move particles against the concentration gradient.