Movement of Substances into & out of Cells

✓ Various reactions occur in cells.

✓ The organelles in cells need many different substances to carry out these reactions.
✓ Waste products are formed during these reactions and must be removed.
✓ As a result, there is a constant movement of substances into and out of cells.
o Substances needed by the cells, like glucose and oxygen, must pass into the cell.
o Substances produced by the cells must pass out of the cell. These may be waste products,
like carbon dioxide and urea, or substances needed by another cell like enzymes. This is
called secretion.

✓ Substances can be taken in within small vesicles made from the cell membrane.
o Amoeba takes its food in this way.
✓ They can also be released from cells when vesicles containing the substance join with the
membrane.
o Hormones are released from cells like this.

✓ They may also enter and exit cells as individual molecules.

✓ To do this, they utilize various mechanisms such as diffusion.
✓ Water enters and leaves cells by osmosis.
✓ Substances can move into and out of cells by various processes like:
o Diffusion
o Osmosis
o Active transport
Diffusion
✓ This is the net movement of particles from an area of higher concentration to an area of

lower concentration, until the particles are evenly distributed.

✓ The particles are said to move down a concentration gradient.

✓ A diffusion gradient or concentration gradient occurs when there is a difference in the number

of molecules, or concentration of molecules between the two regions.

o For example, when a drop of dye is added to water, the dye molecules move around and

between the water molecules and are eventually spread evenly, even when they are not

stirred.

o In other words, the dye molecules move from where they are plentiful to where they are not so

plentiful.

✓ Particles in gases, liquids and solutions are capable of diffusing.

✓ Diffusion is the way in which cells obtain many of their requirements and get rid of their waste

products which, if not removed, would poison them.

Importance of Diffusion in Living Organisms
✓ Diffusion occurs in the lungs.
✓ Carbon dioxide diffuses from the blood where it is at a high concentration into the lungs where
its concentration is lower.
✓ Oxygen diffuses in the other direction because it has a higher concentration in the lungs and a
lower concentration in the blood.

✓ Oxygen, which is used in aerobic respiration, moves into organisms through gaseous exchange
surfaces and into cells by diffusion.
✓ Carbon dioxide, which is produced in aerobic respiration, moves out of cells and out of
organisms through gaseous exchange surfaces by diffusion.

✓ Carbon dioxide, used in photosynthesis in plants, moves out of plant cells and leaves by
diffusion.
✓ Oxygen, produced in photosynthesis, moves out of plant cells and leaves by diffusion.

✓ After a meal, the end products of digestion such as glucose and amino acids, are at a high
concentration in the gut.
✓ They diffuse down their concentration gradient into the blood where they are at a lower
concentration.

✓ Other wastes made by cells, such as ammonia, are at a higher concentration in the cell than in
the blood.
✓ They also diffuse out of the cell to the blood and are taken away and expelled from the body.
Osmosis
✓ This is the net movement of water molecules through a selectively permeable membrane.

✓ The water molecules move from an area where the water is in higher concentration to an area
where the water molecules are in a lower concentration.

✓ Osmosis can also be defined as the movement of water molecules from a dilute solution to a
concentrated solution through a selectively permeable membrane.

✓ In any cell, the cell membrane is selectively permeable.

✓ Selectively permeable means that water and some substances can pass through the membrane,
but other substances do not.
✓ There is always cytoplasm on the inside of the membrane and usually a solution on the outside.
✓ Water molecules therefore move into and out of cells by osmosis.

An isotonic solution has the same concentration as the cell contents.

A hypotonic solution has a lower concentration than the cell contents.
A hypertonic solution has a higher concentration than the cell contents.

✓ Plant cells are surrounded by strong, freely permeable cell walls.

✓ Because of this, they behave differently from animal cells when placed in different solutions.
Osmosis in Plant Cells
Plant cells in hypotonic solution (pure water)
✓ When a plant cell is put into a solution that is less concentrated (hypotonic) than the cell
contents, there are more water molecules outside of the cell than on the inside of it.
✓ A net flow of water enters the cell by osmosis which causes the cell to expand.
✓ The vacuoles and cytoplasm swell and press outwards against the cell wall.
✓ The rigid cell wall pushes back on the contents and the cell becomes turgid.

Plant cells in hypertonic solution (salt/sugar solution)

✓ When a plant cell is put into a solution that is more concentrated (hypertonic) than the cell
contents, there are fewer water molecules outside of the cell than on the inside of it.
✓ A net flow of water leaves the cell by osmosis which causes the cell to shrink and become
flaccid.
✓ As more water leaves the cell, the vacuoles and cytoplasm shrink and pull the cell membrane
away from the cell wall because the cell wall stays rigid.
✓ The cell contents are said to be plasmolysed.
✓ NB. In an isotonic solution, the cells are slightly flaccid.
Osmosis in Animal Cells
✓ An animal cell has no cell wall like a plant cell, so hypertonic and hypotonic solutions have
different effects.
✓ In a hypotonic (dilute) solution, there is a net movement of water into the cell.
✓ With no strong cell wall to prevent the membrane from stretching too far, it will eventually
burst.
✓ In a hypertonic (concentrated) solution, there is a net flow of water out of the cell and the whole
cell shrinks.

Animal cells in hypotonic solution (pure water)

✓ Water enters the cell by osmosis which causes the cell to expand.
✓ Eventually the cell will burst (lysis).

Animal cells in hypertonic solution (salt/sugar solution)

✓ Water leaves the cytoplasm by osmosis which causes the cell to shrink.
✓ Eventually the cell stops functioning correctly and is said to be shrivelled or “crenated”.
Importance of Osmosis in Living Organisms
✓ All cells are kept hydrated by water moving into them by osmosis.

✓ Plant cells are kept turgid by water moving into them by osmosis.

o This causes non- woody stems to stand upright and keeps leaves firm.

✓ Water is kept moving through the plants by osmosis occurring in the cells of roots and leaves.

o This ensures that the leaves get water for photosynthesis.

✓ The size of stomatal pores is regulated by osmosis occurring in the guard cells.

o This controls the loss of water from the leaves of plants.

✓ Water is reabsorbed into the blood from the filtrate in the kidney tubules by osmosis.

o This prevents the body from losing too much water.

Active transport
✓ Active transport is the movement of molecules across a cell membrane from a region of lower

concentration to a region of higher concentration—against the concentration gradient.

✓ Energy produced in respiration is used to move the particles through the membranes from an

area of lower concentration to an area of higher concentration.

✓ This process needs carrier proteins in the cell membrane to allow substances to pass through it.

✓ The energy is used to open and close the carrier proteins (protein channels) so that substances

can move into and out of the cell.

✓ Active transport allows cells to accumulate high concentrations of important substances, e.g.,

glucose, amino acids and ions.

Importance of Active Transport in Living Organisms
✓ Mineral ions move from the soil into plant roots by active transport.

✓ Sugars produced in photosynthesis move into the phloem in leaves by active transport.

✓ Some of the glucose and amino acids produced in digestion are absorbed from the ileum into

the blood by active transport.

✓ Useful substances are reabsorbed from the filtrate in the kidney tubules into the blood by

active transport.