MOVEMENT OF PARTICLES

Outcome: Explore and investigates movement of particles and identifies their

importance to living things.

Introduction:

Cells need to transport useful substances Example food materials and also
remove waste products example carbon dioxide. These substances may pass
through the membrane passively (without the need for energy) or actively
(require energy).

There are two passive processes which occur in cells (diffusion and osmosis).

Substances may pass through the cell membrane actively by active transport.

1. Define diffusion:

Diffusion is the movement of molecules from a region of higher concentration

to a region of their lower concentration down concentration gradient.

2. What are the common properties of diffusion?

 Diffusion can operate in any medium.

 Diffusion is applicable to all types of substances solid, liquid, gas
 It does not require any semipermeable membrane.

3. Explain the importance of diffusion in plants and animals.

Plants:

Movement of carbon dioxide from the air into the leaf.

 Movement of oxygen from the leaf

into the air.

Animals

 Movement of oxygen from the lungs into

the blood.
 Movement of carbon dioxide from the
blood into the lungs.
 Absorption of digested products from the
ileum (small intestines).

Examples for diffusion:

If a particles of a coloured chemical example Potassium manganite, is placed

in water the particles spread out and mix with the water particles.

 The potassium manganite has dissolved.

 The potassium manganite is the solute.
 The water is the solvent.
 The mixture that results is the solution.
 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.

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

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 plasmolysis.
Osmosis in animal cell

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.
 Active transport

Define active transport

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 animal: The digested food like glucose, amino acid etc;are absorbed by the
epithelial cells of the villi by active transport.

In plants the mineral salts enters 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.

Examples of active transport include:

 uptake of glucose by epithelial cells in the villi of the small intestine

 uptake of ions from soil water by root hair cells in plants
Differences between diffusion, osmosis and active transport.
Diffusion Osmosis Active transport
Down concentration Present Present absent
gradient
Against concnetration Absent Absent present
gradeint
Energy need No No yes
Substances moved Dissolved sollutes Water Disolved solultes
 Diffusion Osmosis Active transport

Down a concentration
✓ ✓ ✗
gradient

Against a
concentration ✗ ✗ ✓
gradient

Energy needed ✗ ✗ ✓

Dissolved
Substance moved Dissolved solutes Water
solutes

Notes Carrier
Gases and dissolved Partially permeable
protein
gases also diffuse membrane needed needed