Answers to Worksheets

Chapter 8
1
Worksheet
8.1 The pathway of water movement through a plant
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2 root hair 1, root cortex cells 2, xylem 3, mesophyll cells 4, stomata 5

3 Blue circles for root hair, root cortex cells, xylem, mesophyll cells
4 Red circle for stomata

Worksheet 8.2 The mechanism of water movement through a plant

Water moves up through a plant as the result of transpiration, which is the loss of water
vapour through the stomata in the leaves. This produces a tension, called transpiration pull,
which pulls columns of water up through the xylem.
As water vapour is lost from the leaves, this reduces the water potential inside the air
spaces in the leaf mesophyll layers. This causes water to evaporate from the cell walls of the
mesophyll cells. This reduces the water potential inside the mesophyll cells, producing a water
potential gradient from the xylem vessels in the leaf into the cells. Water therefore moves out
of the xylem vessels, into the mesophyll cells. It moves into these cells by osmosis.
This removal of water from the upper parts of the xylem vessels causes the water potential
at their tops to be lower than the water potential at their bases. Water is therefore drawn
up through the xylem vessels in a continuous column. It moves by mass flow. The column
remains continuous because water molecules are attracted to each other by cohesion, and to
the walls of the xylem vessels by adhesion.
Cambridge University Press 2014

IGCSE Biology

Chapter 8: Answers to Worksheets