Suggested answers to Exercise and Reading to learn

Ch 3 Movement of substances across cell membrane

Exercise
Multiple-choice questions (p. 3-25)
1 D 2 D 3 B 4 B 5 D
6 B 7 B 8 A 9 C 10 A
11 C

Short questions (p. 3-27)

12 HKALE Biology 2006 I Q9

13 a Passive / do not require energy or ATP. (1)

Movement down / along a concentration gradient / by diffusion. (1)
b Active transport (1)
It occurs only when oxygen is present because energy / respiration is required. (½)
There is no uptake in curve Z. (½)
c The concentration inside cells is higher than surrounding solution. (1)
d Diffusion is proportional to the concentration gradient. (1)

14 Water has a higher water potential than the cell contents. It moves across the differentially
permeable membrane into the cells by osmosis. (1)
As the cell membranes of red blood cells are thin and not surrounded by cell walls, (1) the cells
burst when more and more / too much water enters. (1) Therefore no blood cells can be observed
under the microscope.

15 a Distilled water has a higher water potential than potato. (½)

Therefore in distilled water, water moves into potato by osmosis. (1)
Concentrated sugar solution has a lower water potential than potato. (½)
Therefore in concentrated sugar solution, water moves out of potato. (1)
Potato in distilled water becomes heavier than the one in concentrated sugar solution. (1) b Any
two from: (1) x 2
 The vacuoles of the cells in distilled water are bigger than the ones in sugar solution. (1)
The cell membranes are pulled away from the cell walls in the cells in sugar solution /
cells in sugar become flaccid / cells become plasmolysed. (1)
Contents of the cells push against the cell walls in the cells in distilled water / cells in distilled water
become turgid. (1)

16 HKALE Biology 1998 I Q4

17 a III should show two arms of membrane surrounding particle and meeting / almost
meeting.(1)
IV should show restored membrane surface and vesicle enclosed in cell. (1)
Label ‘vesicle’ vacuole OR cell membrane (1)

b Surface area is reduced. (1) c Phagocytosis (1) Structured questions (p. 3-29)

18 a i A — glycoprotein (1) B — phospholipid (1)

ii Cell recognition / cell attachment / receptor / antigen (1)
iii Fatty acids / tails are water-repelling / non-polar (½)
Fatty acids are in the middle of the bilayer (½)
Phosphate / heads are water-loving / polar (½)
Phosphate groups are on the outside of the bilayer
(½) Cytoplasm / tissue fluid are polar in nature (1) b
The membrane is fluid in nature. (½)
Phospholipids / B are able to move (within membrane). (½)
Proteins can move (within membrane / phospholipid bilayer). (½)
 Therefore the proteins will have a new rearrangement in the fused cell. (½)

19 HKCEE Biology 2003 I Q1b

b (i) (1) The water potential of the red blood cells was higher than that of the surrounding
solution.
Water moved out of the cells.
As a result, the cells shrank and became wrinkled.
(2) Because the water potential of some red blood cells was higher than, while that of others
was equal to / lower than the water potential of the surrounding solution.
(ii) Observe the red blood cells again after some time.
The proportion of the two forms should remain the same if they had reached equilibrium
in the previous observation.
(iii) The water potential of the red blood cells was lower than that of the surrounding
solution.
Water entered the cells.
The red blood cells expanded and burst, releasing the
haemoglobin to the solution, thus making it red. 20 a 8.2
− 12.0 (1)
= –3.8 (1) b concentrated sugar solution beaker C dilute sugar
solution beaker A water beaker B (2m for all 3 correct, (1) for 2 correct)
c The water potential of the water in beaker is higher than that of the dilute sugar solution
inside the bag. (½)
Water moves into the bag (½)
by osmosis (½)
through the differentially permeable membrane of the Visking tubing bag. (½)
d The water potential inside the bag and in the beaker is the same. (½) No
net water movement into or out of the tubing. (½) e Differentially permeable (1)
Osmosis took place. (1)

21 a In test tube A, distilled water had a higher water potential than the red blood cells. (1)
Water entered red blood cells by osmosis. (1)
All red blood cells burst and haemoglobin was released into the water. (1)
In test tube C, concentrated saline had a lower water potential than the red blood cells.(1)
Water did not enter the cells and they did not burst. (1)
b Dilute saline had a higher water potential than some of the red blood cells. (½)
Water entered these red blood cells by osmosis. (½)
Since only some red blood cells burst, a smaller amount of haemoglobin was released.(1)
c I would take some fluid from tube A and some solid matter from the bottom of tube B and
observe them under a microscope. (1)
 The fluid from tube A should contain no intact cells while the solid matter from tube B
should contain some. (1)
d Sea water has a lower water potential than that of the cytoplasm. (1)
Too much water may leave the cells and the animals die. (1)

22 a i Axes labelled plus units (1)

Suitable scale (1)
Points plotted accurately (1)
Line drawn without extrapolation (1)
(Deduct 2m if axes are wrongly used)

ii 0.3 M (1)
iii Water potential outside the cells is the same as inside / no water potential gradient /
isotonic (1)
No net movement of water into and out of the cells (1)
by osmosis. (1)
b i Active transport requires energy (½) produced from respiration. (½)
The activity of enzymes involved in respiration is affected by temperature. (½)
Cyanide also stops respiration / inhibits enzyme activity. (½)
The graph shows that the rate of potassium ion uptake decreases when
temperature is lowered or cyanide is added. This shows that the root hairs take up the
ions most likely by active transport. (1)
ii Diffusion continues / not affected by cyanide / not an active process (1)

Essays (p. 3-31)

23 a The structure of the cell membrane can be explained by the fluid mosaic model. (½)
The cell membrane is mainly made up of phospholipids and proteins. (1)
The phospholipid molecules are arranged in a bilayer. (½)
 Their water-loving heads face the water based environment inside and outside of the cell.(½)
Some protein molecules embed half-way through the phospholipid bilayer, (½) while
some penetrate through the bilayer. (½)
Some proteins have carbohydrates molecules attached to their surface for recognition
purposes. (½)
b Lipid-soluble molecules can pass through the phospholipid bilayer by diffusion. (1)
Small molecules like oxygen and carbon dioxide can also diffuse through the bilayer freely.
(1)
Water molecules enter the cell by osmosis through channel protein. (1)
Proteins can also act as carriers, (1)
which pick up molecules on one side of the membrane and release them on the other side.(1)
This happens during active transport that requires energy. (1)

24 Osmosis is the net movement of water molecules 2m from a region of high water potential to a
region of low water potential (1) across a differentially membrane. (1)
It is important to living organisms in many ways. For example, it gives
turgidity and support to plant cells; it plays an important role in the
relationship between plasma and tissue fluid; it is important in the process of
reabsorption taken place in the kidney; it takes place in the absorption in
gut; it is important for the movement of water from soil to leaves in plants.
(any 3 importance; 2m each) Reading to learn (p. 3-32)
1 The water potential of distilled water is higher than that of normal cells or the contact lens. (½)
When it is in contact with the cells or the contact lens, water enters the cells or the contact lens
by osmosis which may cause damage to them. (½)
Since normal saline is isotonic to the cells or the contact lens, (½) no
osmosis occurs and the cells or the contact lens would not be damaged. (½)

2 Patients who cannot take fluids orally and have developed or are in danger of developing
dehydration. (1)
This helps to maintain the normal blood circulation of the patients. (1)

3 If the normal saline is hypotonic or hypertonic to the body cells, water will enter or leave the
cells
(1) by osmosis (1) when it is in contact with the cells.
As a result, the cells burst or shrink. This highly affects the normal functioning of the cells. (1)