Diffusion and Osmosis

OBJECTIVES
After completing this exercise, you will be able to:
1. define homeostasis, differentially permeable, diffusion, osmosis, concentration
gradient, equilibrium, turgor pressure, plasmolysis, hypertonic, isotonic, hypotonic,
2. describe the structure of cellular membranes,
3. distinguish between diffusion and osmosis,
4. describe the effects of hypertonic, isotonic, and hypotonic solutions on red blood cells
and elodea cells,

BACKGROUND

Maintaining a constant internal environment in a cell or organism is called

homeostasis. This constant environment is necessary for enzymes and other cellular systems
to function optimally. One component of a cell’s homeostatic mechanism is the ability to
exchange materials with the environment selectively. Ions and organic compounds, such as
sugars, amino acids, and nucleotides, must enter a cell, whereas waste products must leave the
cell. Regardless of the direction of movement, the common interface for these processes is the
cell membrane. The cell walls of plants, bacteria, and fungi offer little if any, resistance to the
exchange of molecules.

The Cell Membrane

The cell membrane is the structure that helps to regulate the passage of materials
between the cell and its environment. The cell membrane may prevent some substances, such as
large proteins and lipids, from entering the cell. However, the membrane permits the passage
of simple sugars, oxygen, water, and carbon dioxide. For this reason, the cell membrane is said
to be differentially, selectively, or semi-permeable.

The cell membrane is about 7.5 to 10 nanometers (nm) thick. The membrane is made
up almost entirely of lipid and protein molecules. The lipid molecules are arranged in two
layers, “a lipid bilayer”, with various proteins embedded. Some of these proteins make contact
with only the internal or external environment of the cell, while others penetrate completely
through the membrane. The proteins may also change their positions in the membrane. The
different types of proteins associated with the membrane play important roles in the
movement of materials across the membrane. Channels that extend between protein molecules
also exist. Such channels are the pores that allow certain substances to pass through the
membrane.

Cellular Transport

The constant movement of substances in both directions across the cellular membrane is
called cellular transport. Cellular transport is the process by which needed materials enter the
cell while waste materials and cell secretions leave. Cellular transport
may be either active or passive. Active transport is the movement of materials across the cell
membrane that requires the use of energy by the cell.
Passive transport is the movement of materials across the cell membrane that does not
require the use of energy by the cell.

Diffusion

The random movement of molecules in liquids and gases is responsible for a process
called diffusion. Diffusion is the net movement of atoms, molecules, or ions from a region
where they are more concentrated to a region where they are less concentrated.

Diffusion of a solid in a liquid can be exemplified by dropping a sugar cube into a cup
of water. The molecules of sugar are highly concentrated in the cube. As the sugar dissolves,
the sugar molecules collide with each other and with water molecules. Diffusion continues
until the sugar molecules are spread evenly throughout the water. Once this occurs, the
concentration will remain constant. The molecules will continue to move, but the
concentration will not change. This state of constant concentration maintained by the motion of
molecules is known as dynamic equilibrium. Once equilibrium has been reached, further
movement has no effect on the even distribution of sugar molecules throughout the water.

A diffusing substance moves them down a concentration gradient. A gradient may be

considered a degree of steepness, as in the “gradient” of a hill. A concentration gradient
measures the difference in concentration of a substance in two regions. The rate of diffusion is
related to the size of the concentration gradient, e.g., the greater the concentration gradient, the
greater the diffusion rate from the region of higher concentration to the region of lesser
concentration. Saying that a substance moves from a region of high concentration to a region of
low concentration is the same as saying that it “moves down a concentration gradient”.

Some substances, including oxygen and carbon dioxide, pass through pores in the cell
membrane by simple diffusion. Usually, oxygen molecules are more highly concentrated
outside the cell, while carbon dioxide is more concentrated inside. Oxygen diffuses into the cell,
while carbon dioxide diffuses outward.

Osmosis

Water can pass through the cell membrane. The movement of water across a
selectively permeable membrane is called osmosis. In osmosis, water moves from a region of
high concentration to one of lower concentration (note that the concentration term here refers
to water itself). Thus, osmosis is a special kind of passive transport, the diffusion of water.
 How can the concentration of water in two regions be compared? The concentration of
water is determined by the amount of material dissolved in the water. If very little material is
dissolved in the water, the concentration of water can be considered high, e.g., if a solution
contains 1 g of salt in 1 liter of water, the concentration of water is high as compared to a
solution that contains 100 g of salt in the same volume of water.

In living organisms, water enters and leaves cells by osmosis, depending on the solution,
in which the concentration of dissolved substances inside the cell is equal to the concentration
outside the cell. In the bloodstream, the fluid around a red blood cell contains as much
dissolved material as the blood cell membrane, and water moves inward and outward at the
same rate. Under isotonic conditions, animal and plant cells maintain their shapes. A
hypotonic solution is one in which the concentration of dissolved materials in the water
outside the cell is lower than the concentration inside. Thus, the concentration of water is
higher outside the cell than inside. A red blood cell placed in water is in a hypotonic solution.
Because of the greater concentration of water outside the cell membrane, water moves into the
cell, causing the cell to swell and eventually burst. However, plant cells behave differently,
obviously because of the presence of the cell wall. Mature plant cells are generally in a
hypotonic environment because of the materials dissolved within the cell. These dissolved
substances decrease the internal water concentration, so water moves into the cell by osmosis.
Water intake causes the cell contents to push against the cell wall. However, the cell does not
burst because the cell wall is strong enough to prevent the cell contents from being pushed out
further. The outward pressing of water against the cell wall is turgor pressure. Turgor helps to
give firmness and stiffness to stems and leaves.

A hypertonic solution is the one in which the concentration of dissolved substances in

the water is greater outside the cell compared to the water inside. In a hypertonic solution,
water moves out of the cell by osmosis. As a result, a red blood cell placed in such a solution
will shrivel or shrink. In a plant cell, again, because of the presence of a rigid cell wall, the
cell’s contents shrink away from the cell wall. The shrinking of the contents of a plant cell due
to loss of water is known as plasmolysis. Plasmolysis results in wilting of stems and leaves.

Facilitated Diffusion

Another type of passive transport across a cell membrane is accomplished with the aid
of carrier molecules. Carrier molecules in the cell membrane permit specific molecules on one
side or the membrane to pass to the other side. Investigations have revealed that these carriers
are proteins. The diffusion of materials by the carrier molecules is called facilitated diffusion.
The process of diffusion is facilitated or made easier by the carriers. Facilitated diffusion
involves the movement of substances down a concentration gradient. In facilitated diffusion,
however, the substances move more rapidly than by simple diffusion alone. Apparently, only
particular kinds of molecules can be transported by carriers.

Active Transport

Transport of some materials into and outside the cells takes place against a
concentration gradient. In such cases, cell energy is used to move substances from regions of
lower concentration to regions of higher concentration. Active transport is the process by
which cell energy is used to move atoms, molecules, and ions against a concentration
gradient.

Endocytosis and Exocytosis

The transport processes discussed so far involve the passage of small molecules across
the cell membrane. Cells also have ways of getting large molecules, groups of molecules, and
even whole cells across the cell membrane.

Endocytosis is the process by which cells take in large materials that cannot pass
through the cell membrane. There are two types of endocytosis. When a cell takes in small
particles or liquid droplets, the process is called pinocytosis. The second type of endocytosis is
called phagocytosis. Phagocytosis is the process by which large solid materials are taken into
a cell.

LABORATORY INSTRUCTIONS

Exercises

1. Simple Diffusion
a) Clean your thumb with 70% (v/v) ethanol and gently puncture it with a sterile lancet.
Place a drop of blood on each of the three slides labeled A to C by a permanent
marker. On slide A add a drop of distilled water and mix well; on slides B and C, add a
drop of 0.9 % (w/v) and 3% (w/v) NaCl solution, respectively. Mix well and place
coverslips over your preparations. Examine the red blood cells using high-power
magnification and interpret your observations.

b) Place Elodea leaf on the wet mount on two clean slides. Treat your preparations with
distilled water and 16% (w/v) NaCl solution. Place a coverslip on each preparation and
examine them microscopically for a while. Compare the two slides and discuss your
observations.