Chapter:3 Movement in & out of Cells

By Ziad ahmed

IGCSE/AS/A Level Biology Teacher

Ziad ahmed – IGCSE-AS-A-Level-IB Biology Teacher WhatsApp: +974-55596985

 Specification Points

Ziad ahmed – IGCSE-AS-A-Level-IB Biology Teacher WhatsApp: +974-55596985

 Specification Points

Ziad ahmed – IGCSE-AS-A-Level-IB Biology Teacher WhatsApp: +974-55596985

 Specification Points

Ziad ahmed – IGCSE-AS-A-Level-IB Biology Teacher WhatsApp: +974-55596985

 3.1: Diffusion

● 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

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3.1: Diffusion

● 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

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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)
● Oxygen, which is a waste product of photosynthesis, diffuses out in the same way.
There is a higher concentration of oxygen inside the leaf, because it is being made
there. Oxygen therefore diffuses out through the stomata into the air.
● Cell membranes are freely permeable to oxygen and carbon dioxide, so these
easily diffuse into and out of cells.
● Some of the products of digestion are absorbed from the ileum of mammals by
diffusion.
● Flowering plants use diffusion to attract pollinators like bees and wasps.

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Examples of diffusion in living organisms
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)

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Factors that Influence Diffusion
● cells lining the ileum in animals (which
absorb the products of digestion)

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

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Three factors that affect the rate of diffusion and therefore the movement of molecules through membranes:
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 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

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 3.2: OSMOSIS - A kind of Diffusion
• 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
 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
 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):

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3.2: OSMOSIS - Experiment
• The most common osmosis practical involves cutting cylinders of
potato and placing them into distilled water and sucrose solutions of
increasing concentration
• The potato 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
• The potato cylinder in the distilled water will have increased its mass the
most as there is a greater concentration gradient in this tube between the
distilled water (high water potential) and the potato cells (lower water
potential)
• This means more water molecules will move into the potato cells by
osmosis, pushing the cell membrane against the cell wall and so increasing
the turgor pressure in the cells which makes them turgid – the potato
cylinders will feel hard A turgid plant cell

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3.2: OSMOSIS - Experiment
 The potato cylinder in the strongest sucrose concentration
will have decreased its mass the most as there is a greater
concentration gradient in this tube between the potato cells
(higher water potential) and the sucrose solution (lower water
potential)
 This means more water molecules will move out of the
potato cells by osmosis, making them flaccid and
decreasing the mass of the cylinder – the potato cylinders will
feel floppy
 If looked at underneath the microscope, cells from this potato
cylinder might be plasmolyzed, meaning the cell membrane
has pulled away from the cell wall
A plasmolyzed plant cell

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3.2: OSMOSIS - Experiment
• If there is a potato cylinder that has not increased or decreased in mass, it means there was no
overall net movement of water into or out of the potato cells
• This is because the solution that cylinder was in was the same concentration as the solution found in
the cytoplasm of the potato cells, so there was no concentration gradient

Watch Practical Video of Osmosis

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3.2: OSMOSIS - Experiment Watch Practical Video of Osmosis

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Importance of Osmosis in 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

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Osmosis in Plant Tissues
• Plant cells that are turgid are full of water and contain a high turgor pressure (the pressure of the
cytoplasm pushing against the cell wall)
• This pressure prevents any more water entering the cell by osmosis, even if it is in a solution that
has a higher water potential than inside the cytoplasm of the cells
• This prevents the plant cells from taking in too much water and bursting
• Plant roots are surrounded by soil water and the cytoplasm of root cells has a lower water
potential than the soil water
• This means water will move across the cell membrane of root hair cells into the root by osmosis
• The water moves across the root from cell to cell by osmosis until it reaches the xylem
Once they enter the xylem they are transported away from the root by the transpiration stream,
helping to maintain a concentration gradient between the root cells and the xylem vessels
• Plant cell are not plasmolyzed (loss of water) due to tough cell wall.

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Osmosis in Plant Tissues
 Osmosis in Animal Tissues
• 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

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Osmosis in Animal Tissues

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 Osmosis in Animal Tissues

Concentration and types of solution

On the basis of the amount of solutes

 Hypertonic solution
 Hypotonic solution
 Isotonic solution

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 3.3 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

• There are many occasions when cells need to take in substances which are only present in small
quantities around them.
• Root hair cells in plants, for example, take in nitrate ions from the soil. Very often, the concentration of
nitrate ions inside the root hair cell is higher than the concentration in the soil. The diffusion gradient for
the nitrate ions is out of the root hair, and into the soil.
• Despite this, the root hair cells are still able to take nitrate ions in. They do it by a process called active
transport.

• Examples of active transport include:

• 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

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 3.3 Active Transport
 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:
 Substance combines with carrier protein molecule in the cell
membrane
 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 substance
released into cell.

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3.3 Active Transport Diagrams

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Ziad ahmed – IGCSE-AS-A-Level-IB Biology Teacher WhatsApp: +974-55596985
Ziad ahmed – IGCSE-AS-A-Level-IB Biology Teacher WhatsApp: +974-55596985