Passive Transport Quiz

PDF page 214: allow some substances to pass through, but not others. If they were to lose this selectivity, the cell would no longer be able to sustain itself, and it would be destroyed. Some cells require larger amounts of specific substances than do other cells; they must have a way of obtaining these materials from extracellular fluids. This may happen passively, as certain materials move back and forth, or the cell may have special mechanisms that facilitate transport. Some materials are so important to a cell that it spends some of its energy, hydrolyzing adenosine triphosphate (ATP), to obtain these materials. Red blood cells use some of their energy doing just that. Most cells spend the majority of their energy to maintain an imbalance of sodium and potassium ions between the interior and exterior of the cell. The most direct forms of membrane transport are passive. Passive transport is a naturally occurring phenomenon and does not require the cell to exert any of its energy to accomplish the movement. In passive transport, substances move from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration. A physical space in which there is a range of concentrations of a single substance is said to have a concentration gradient.

PDF page 214: allow some substances to pass through, but not others. If they were to lose this selectivity, the cell would no longer be able to sustain itself, and it would be destroyed. Some cells require larger amounts of specific substances than do other cells; they must have a way of obtaining these materials from extracellular fluids. This may happen passively, as certain materials move back and forth, or the cell may have special mechanisms that facilitate transport. Some materials are so important to a cell that it spends some of its energy, hydrolyzing adenosine triphosphate (ATP), to obtain these materials. Red blood cells use some of their energy doing just that. Most cells spend the majority of their energy to maintain an imbalance of sodium and potassium ions between the interior and exterior of the cell. The most direct forms of membrane transport are passive. Passive transport is a naturally occurring phenomenon and does not require the cell to exert any of its energy to accomplish the movement. In passive transport, substances move from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration. A physical space in which there is a range of concentrations of a single substance is said to have a concentration gradient.

PDF page 213: Preventing dehydration is important for both plants and animals. Water moves across plasma membranes by a specific type of diffusion called osmosis. The concentration gradient of water across a membrane is inversely proportional to the concentration of solutes; that is, water moves through channel proteins called aquaporins from higher water concentration to lower water concentration. Solute concentration outside and inside the cell influences the rate of osmosis. Tonicity describes how the extracellular concentration of solutes can change the volume of a cell by affecting osmosis, often correlating with the osmolarity of the solution, i.e., the total solute concentration of the solution. In a hypotonic situation, because the extracellular fluid has a lower concentration of solutes (lower osmolarity) than the fluid inside the cell, water enters the cell, causing it to swell and possibly burst. The cell walls of plants prevent them from bursting, but animal cells, such as red blood cells, can lyse. When a cell is placed in a hypertonic solution, water leaves the cell because the cell has a higher water potential than the extracellular solution. When the concentrations of solute are equal on both sides of the membrane (isotonic), no net movement of water into or out of the cell occurs. Living organisms have evolved a variety of ways to maintain osmotic balance; for example, marine fish secrete excess salt through the gills to maintain dynamic homeostasis. Information presented and the examples highlighted in the section support concepts and learning objectives outlined in Big

PDF page 217: Osmosis is the movement of water through a semipermeable membrane according to the concentration gradient of water across the membrane, which is inversely proportional to the concentration of solutes. While diffusion transports material across membranes and within cells, osmosis transports only water across a membrane and the membrane limits the diffusion of solutes in the water. Not surprisingly, the aquaporins that facilitate water movement play a large role in osmosis, most prominently in red blood cells and the membranes of kidney tubules. Mechanism Osmosis is a special case of diffusion. Water, like other substances, moves from an area of high concentration to one of low concentration. An obvious question is what makes water move at all? Imagine a beaker with a semipermeable membrane separating the two sides or halves (Figure 5.11). On both sides of the membrane the water level is the same, but there are different concentrations of a dissolved substance, or solute, that cannot cross the membrane (otherwise the concentrations on each side would be balanced by the solute crossing the membrane). If the volume of the solution on both sides of the

PDF page 216: In facilitated transport, also called facilitated diffusion, materials diffuse across the plasma membrane with the help of membrane proteins. A concentration gradient exists that would allow these materials to diffuse into the cell without expending cellular energy. However, these materials are polar molecules that are repelled by the hydrophobic parts of the cell membrane. Facilitated transport proteins shield these materials from the repulsive force of the membrane, allowing them to diffuse into the cell. The material being transported is first attached to protein or glycoprotein receptors on the exterior surface of the plasma membrane. This allows the material that is needed by the cell to be removed from the extracellular fluid. The substances are then passed to specific integral proteins that facilitate their passage. Some of these integral proteins are collections of beta pleated sheets that form a pore or channel through the phospholipid bilayer. Others are carrier proteins which bind with the substance and aid its diffusion through the membrane. Channels The integral proteins involved in facilitated transport are collectively referred to as transport proteins, and they function as either channels for the material or carriers. In both cases, they are transmembrane proteins. Channels are specific for the substance that is being transported. Channel proteins have hydrophilic domains exposed to the intracellular and extracellular fluids; they additionally have a hydrophilic channel through their core that provides a hydrated opening through the membrane layers (Figure 5.9). Passage through the channel allows polar compounds to avoid the nonpolar central layer of the plasma membrane that would otherwise slow or prevent their entry into the cell. Aquaporins are channel proteins that allow water to pass through the membrane at a very high rate.

PDF page 213: Preventing dehydration is important for both plants and animals. Water moves across plasma membranes by a specific type of diffusion called osmosis. The concentration gradient of water across a membrane is inversely proportional to the concentration of solutes; that is, water moves through channel proteins called aquaporins from higher water concentration to lower water concentration. Solute concentration outside and inside the cell influences the rate of osmosis. Tonicity describes how the extracellular concentration of solutes can change the volume of a cell by affecting osmosis, often correlating with the osmolarity of the solution, i.e., the total solute concentration of the solution. In a hypotonic situation, because the extracellular fluid has a lower concentration of solutes (lower osmolarity) than the fluid inside the cell, water enters the cell, causing it to swell and possibly burst. The cell walls of plants prevent them from bursting, but animal cells, such as red blood cells, can lyse. When a cell is placed in a hypertonic solution, water leaves the cell because the cell has a higher water potential than the extracellular solution. When the concentrations of solute are equal on both sides of the membrane (isotonic), no net movement of water into or out of the cell occurs. Living organisms have evolved a variety of ways to maintain osmotic balance; for example, marine fish secrete excess salt through the gills to maintain dynamic homeostasis. Information presented and the examples highlighted in the section support concepts and learning objectives outlined in Big

PDF page 213: Preventing dehydration is important for both plants and animals. Water moves across plasma membranes by a specific type of diffusion called osmosis. The concentration gradient of water across a membrane is inversely proportional to the concentration of solutes; that is, water moves through channel proteins called aquaporins from higher water concentration to lower water concentration. Solute concentration outside and inside the cell influences the rate of osmosis. Tonicity describes how the extracellular concentration of solutes can change the volume of a cell by affecting osmosis, often correlating with the osmolarity of the solution, i.e., the total solute concentration of the solution. In a hypotonic situation, because the extracellular fluid has a lower concentration of solutes (lower osmolarity) than the fluid inside the cell, water enters the cell, causing it to swell and possibly burst. The cell walls of plants prevent them from bursting, but animal cells, such as red blood cells, can lyse. When a cell is placed in a hypertonic solution, water leaves the cell because the cell has a higher water potential than the extracellular solution. When the concentrations of solute are equal on both sides of the membrane (isotonic), no net movement of water into or out of the cell occurs. Living organisms have evolved a variety of ways to maintain osmotic balance; for example, marine fish secrete excess salt through the gills to maintain dynamic homeostasis. Information presented and the examples highlighted in the section support concepts and learning objectives outlined in Big

PDF page 219: In a hypotonic environment, water enters a cell, and the cell swells. In an isotonic condition, the relative concentrations of solute and solvent are equal on both sides of the membrane. There is no net water movement; therefore, there is no change in the size of the cell. In a hypertonic solution, water leaves a cell and the cell shrinks. If either the hypo- or hyper- condition goes to excess, the cell’s functions become compromised, and the cell may be destroyed.

PDF page 213: Preventing dehydration is important for both plants and animals. Water moves across plasma membranes by a specific type of diffusion called osmosis. The concentration gradient of water across a membrane is inversely proportional to the concentration of solutes; that is, water moves through channel proteins called aquaporins from higher water concentration to lower water concentration. Solute concentration outside and inside the cell influences the rate of osmosis. Tonicity describes how the extracellular concentration of solutes can change the volume of a cell by affecting osmosis, often correlating with the osmolarity of the solution, i.e., the total solute concentration of the solution. In a hypotonic situation, because the extracellular fluid has a lower concentration of solutes (lower osmolarity) than the fluid inside the cell, water enters the cell, causing it to swell and possibly burst. The cell walls of plants prevent them from bursting, but animal cells, such as red blood cells, can lyse. When a cell is placed in a hypertonic solution, water leaves the cell because the cell has a higher water potential than the extracellular solution. When the concentrations of solute are equal on both sides of the membrane (isotonic), no net movement of water into or out of the cell occurs. Living organisms have evolved a variety of ways to maintain osmotic balance; for example, marine fish secrete excess salt through the gills to maintain dynamic homeostasis. Information presented and the examples highlighted in the section support concepts and learning objectives outlined in Big

PDF page 219: Hypotonic Solutions Three terms—hypotonic, isotonic, and hypertonic—are used to relate the osmolarity of a cell to the osmolarity of the extracellular fluid that contains the cells. In a hypotonic situation, the extracellular fluid has lower osmolarity than the fluid inside the cell, and water enters the cell. (In living systems, the point of reference is always the cytoplasm, so the prefix hypo- means that the extracellular fluid has a lower concentration of solutes, or a lower osmolarity, than the cell cytoplasm.) It also means that the extracellular fluid has a higher concentration of water in the solution than does the cell. In this situation, water will follow its concentration gradient and enter the cell. Hypertonic Solutions As for a hypertonic solution, the prefix hyper- refers to the extracellular fluid having a higher osmolarity than the cell’s cytoplasm; therefore, the fluid contains less water than the cell does. Because the cell has a relatively higher concentration of water, water will leave the cell. Isotonic Solutions In an isotonic solution, the extracellular fluid has the same osmolarity as the cell. If the osmolarity of the cell matches that of the extracellular fluid, there will be no net movement of water into or out of the cell, although water will still move in and out. Blood cells and plant cells in hypertonic, isotonic, and hypotonic solutions take on characteristic appearances (Figure 5.12).

PDF page 213: Preventing dehydration is important for both plants and animals. Water moves across plasma membranes by a specific type of diffusion called osmosis. The concentration gradient of water across a membrane is inversely proportional to the concentration of solutes; that is, water moves through channel proteins called aquaporins from higher water concentration to lower water concentration. Solute concentration outside and inside the cell influences the rate of osmosis. Tonicity describes how the extracellular concentration of solutes can change the volume of a cell by affecting osmosis, often correlating with the osmolarity of the solution, i.e., the total solute concentration of the solution. In a hypotonic situation, because the extracellular fluid has a lower concentration of solutes (lower osmolarity) than the fluid inside the cell, water enters the cell, causing it to swell and possibly burst. The cell walls of plants prevent them from bursting, but animal cells, such as red blood cells, can lyse. When a cell is placed in a hypertonic solution, water leaves the cell because the cell has a higher water potential than the extracellular solution. When the concentrations of solute are equal on both sides of the membrane (isotonic), no net movement of water into or out of the cell occurs. Living organisms have evolved a variety of ways to maintain osmotic balance; for example, marine fish secrete excess salt through the gills to maintain dynamic homeostasis. Information presented and the examples highlighted in the section support concepts and learning objectives outlined in Big

PDF page 219: Hypotonic Solutions Three terms—hypotonic, isotonic, and hypertonic—are used to relate the osmolarity of a cell to the osmolarity of the extracellular fluid that contains the cells. In a hypotonic situation, the extracellular fluid has lower osmolarity than the fluid inside the cell, and water enters the cell. (In living systems, the point of reference is always the cytoplasm, so the prefix hypo- means that the extracellular fluid has a lower concentration of solutes, or a lower osmolarity, than the cell cytoplasm.) It also means that the extracellular fluid has a higher concentration of water in the solution than does the cell. In this situation, water will follow its concentration gradient and enter the cell. Hypertonic Solutions As for a hypertonic solution, the prefix hyper- refers to the extracellular fluid having a higher osmolarity than the cell’s cytoplasm; therefore, the fluid contains less water than the cell does. Because the cell has a relatively higher concentration of water, water will leave the cell. Isotonic Solutions In an isotonic solution, the extracellular fluid has the same osmolarity as the cell. If the osmolarity of the cell matches that of the extracellular fluid, there will be no net movement of water into or out of the cell, although water will still move in and out. Blood cells and plant cells in hypertonic, isotonic, and hypotonic solutions take on characteristic appearances (Figure 5.12).

PDF page 214: Recall that plasma membranes are amphiphilic: They have hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions. This characteristic helps the movement of some materials through the membrane and hinders the movement of others. Lipid-soluble material with a low molecular weight can easily slip through the hydrophobic lipid core of the membrane. Substances such as the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K readily pass through the plasma membranes in the digestive tract and other tissues. Fat-soluble drugs and hormones also gain easy entry into cells and are readily transported into the body’s tissues and organs. Similarly, molecules of oxygen and carbon dioxide have no charge and so pass through membranes by simple diffusion. Polar substances present problems for the membrane. While some polar molecules connect easily with the outside of a cell, they cannot readily pass through the lipid core of the plasma membrane. Additionally, while small ions could easily slip through the spaces in the mosaic of the membrane, their charge prevents them from doing so. Ions such as sodium, potassium, calcium, and chloride must have special means of penetrating plasma membranes. Simple sugars and amino acids also need help with transport across plasma membranes, achieved by various transmembrane proteins (channels).

PDF page 214: Recall that plasma membranes are amphiphilic: They have hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions. This characteristic helps the movement of some materials through the membrane and hinders the movement of others. Lipid-soluble material with a low molecular weight can easily slip through the hydrophobic lipid core of the membrane. Substances such as the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K readily pass through the plasma membranes in the digestive tract and other tissues. Fat-soluble drugs and hormones also gain easy entry into cells and are readily transported into the body’s tissues and organs. Similarly, molecules of oxygen and carbon dioxide have no charge and so pass through membranes by simple diffusion. Polar substances present problems for the membrane. While some polar molecules connect easily with the outside of a cell, they cannot readily pass through the lipid core of the plasma membrane. Additionally, while small ions could easily slip through the spaces in the mosaic of the membrane, their charge prevents them from doing so. Ions such as sodium, potassium, calcium, and chloride must have special means of penetrating plasma membranes. Simple sugars and amino acids also need help with transport across plasma membranes, achieved by various transmembrane proteins (channels).

PDF page 214: allow some substances to pass through, but not others. If they were to lose this selectivity, the cell would no longer be able to sustain itself, and it would be destroyed. Some cells require larger amounts of specific substances than do other cells; they must have a way of obtaining these materials from extracellular fluids. This may happen passively, as certain materials move back and forth, or the cell may have special mechanisms that facilitate transport. Some materials are so important to a cell that it spends some of its energy, hydrolyzing adenosine triphosphate (ATP), to obtain these materials. Red blood cells use some of their energy doing just that. Most cells spend the majority of their energy to maintain an imbalance of sodium and potassium ions between the interior and exterior of the cell. The most direct forms of membrane transport are passive. Passive transport is a naturally occurring phenomenon and does not require the cell to exert any of its energy to accomplish the movement. In passive transport, substances move from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration. A physical space in which there is a range of concentrations of a single substance is said to have a concentration gradient.

PDF page 215: Each separate substance in a medium, such as the extracellular fluid, has its own concentration gradient, independent of the concentration gradients of other materials. In addition, each substance will diffuse according to that gradient. Within a system, there will be different rates of diffusion of the different substances in the medium. Factors That Affect Diffusion Molecules move constantly in a random manner, at a rate that depends on their mass, their environment, and the amount of thermal energy they possess, which in turn is a function of temperature. This movement accounts for the diffusion of molecules through whatever medium in which they are localized. A substance will tend to move into any space available to it until it is evenly distributed throughout it. After a substance has diffused completely through a space, removing its concentration gradient, molecules will still move around in the space, but there will be no net movement of the number of molecules from one area to another. This lack of a concentration gradient in which there is no net movement of a substance is known as dynamic equilibrium. While diffusion will go forward in the presence of a concentration gradient of a substance, several factors affect the rate of diffusion.

PDF page 215: • Temperature: Higher temperatures increase the energy and therefore the movement of the molecules, increasing the

PDF page 215: rate of diffusion. Lower temperatures decrease the energy of the molecules, thus decreasing the rate of diffusion.