Movement Across Membranes

Reza sir (BISC)

Topic: Movement Across Membranes' for Edexcel IGCSE (9-1) Biology.

-----------------------------------Methods of Transport:---------------------------------------------

[Specification Point: Understand the processes of diffusion, osmosis and active transport by which substances move into and out of cells]

 All cells are surrounded by a cell membrane which is partially permeable

 Molecules can move in and out of cells by diffusion or active transport
 Water can move in and out of cells by osmosis.

 The process of diffusion

Fig: Diagram showing the process of diffusion

  -------------------------------------The process of osmosis---------------------------------------------------

Fig: Diagram showing the process of osmosis

 -------------------------The process of active transport---------------------------------------

Fig: Diagram showing the process of active transport

What Affects Rate of Movement?

[Specification Point 2.16

Understand how factors affect the rate of movement of substances into and out of cells, including the effects of surface area to volume ratio, distance, temperature
and concentration gradient.]
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)

-------------------------The large surface area of a root hair cell----------------------------------------

Fig: Diagram showing the cross-section of a root hair cell.

------------------------------------The large surface area of cells lining the ileum---------------------------------------

Fig: Diagram showing the large surface area: volume of cells lining the ileum

 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, ensuring 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.

---------------------------Diffusion and Osmosis Practicals----------------------------------------

[Specification Point 2.17: Practical: investigate diffusion and osmosis using living and non-living systems]

Diffusion in a Non-Living System

 A crystal (Potassium permanganate) is added to water (solvent)

 The potassium permanganate particles will diffuse with solvent particles (move from areas of higher
concentration to lower concentration), diffusing throughout the solvent
 The potassium permanganate particles will be less concentrated in one place in the end, so the colour
will not be as deep

------------------------------Diffusion in a Living System---------------------------------

 During inhalation, oxygen rich air enters alveoli

 There is a higher concentration of oxygen in the alveoli than in the blood running past the alveoli
 Oxygen will diffuse out of alveoli down the concentration gradient into blood
 At the same time, there is a higher concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood (from respiration)
than in the alveoli
 Carbon dioxide will diffuse out of blood down the concentration gradient into the alveoli
 This is how gas exchange takes place in mammals.
 Fig: The alveolus is the gas exchange surface in humans.

 Osmosis in a Non-Living System

 A visking tubing bag (partially permeable) filled with sucrose solution is placed into a beaker of
water
 A capillary tube (a very thin diameter tube) is placed in the bag and the level of liquid in the tube is
observed
 The concentration of water particles is higher outside (in the beaker of water) than inside the visking
tubing bag
 Water molecules will move through the partially permeable membrane of the visking tubing down
the water concentration gradient
 Over time, the level of liquid in the capillary tube will rise as more water molecules move into the
bag due to osmosis.

Fig: Investigating osmosis in a non-living system using visking tubing

 Osmosis in a Living System

 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 concentration) and the
potato cells (lower water concentration)
 This means more water molecules will move into the potato cells by osmosis, making them turgid
and increasing the mass of the cylinder
 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
concentration) and the sucrose solution (lower water concentration)
 This means more water molecules will move out of the potato cells by osmosis, making them flaccid
and decreasing the mass of the cylinder
 If there is a potato cylinder that has not increased or decreased in mass, it means there was no overall
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.