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Flashcards · Biology

Transport In and Out of Cells

94 cards from 4 lessons

  1. What is diffusion?

    The spreading out of particles of a gas, or of a substance in solution, resulting in a net movement from a higher concentration to a lower concentration.

  2. What does "net movement" mean?

    The overall movement in one direction. Particles move both ways, but more move one way.

  3. Does diffusion need energy from the cell?

    No. The particles move on their own.

  4. What is a concentration gradient?

    The difference in concentration between two places.

  5. Which way do particles move in diffusion?

    From a higher concentration to a lower concentration, down the concentration gradient.

  6. Name two gases that move by diffusion in gas exchange.

    Oxygen and carbon dioxide.

  7. Which waste product diffuses from cells into the blood plasma?

    Urea.

  8. What happens to urea once it is in the blood plasma?

    The kidneys remove it so it can be excreted.

  9. Which way does oxygen diffuse into a respiring cell, and why?

    Into the cell, because oxygen is used up there, so its concentration is lower inside.

  10. Why does carbon dioxide diffuse out of respiring cells?

    Respiration makes it, so its concentration is higher inside the cell.

  11. Name the three factors that affect the rate of diffusion.

    The concentration gradient, the temperature, and the surface area of the membrane.

  12. What happens to the rate of diffusion if the concentration gradient gets bigger?

    It increases.

  13. Why does diffusion speed up as temperature rises?

    The particles have more energy and move faster.

  14. Why does a larger surface area speed up diffusion?

    More particles can cross the membrane at the same time.

  15. When does diffusion stop?

    Never for the particles themselves, but there is no net movement once they are evenly spread.

  16. How do you calculate a rate?

    Divide the amount that changed by the time it took.

  17. A cell takes in 30 units in 6 minutes. What is the rate?

    5 units per minute.

  18. What keeps the concentration gradient steep in the alveoli?

    Breathing brings fresh air in, and flowing blood carries oxygen away.

  19. What is the usual mistake about diffusion?

    Saying particles move only from high to low. They move both ways, but the net movement is from high to low.

  20. Which process moves particles from low to high concentration?

    Active transport, which needs energy.

  21. Particles on both sides of a cell membrane with a marker X on an arrow pointing from the fuller side to the emptier side. What does the arrow marked X show?

    The net movement of particles across the membrane, from the higher concentration to the lower concentration. This is diffusion.

  22. A membrane with many particles on one side and few on the other, with nothing labelled. Label this diagram of diffusion across a cell membrane. The same diagram with higher concentration, lower concentration, the cell membrane and net movement labelled.

  23. Three comparisons: concentration gradient, temperature and surface area, each with a slower and a faster example. Which of these three changes make diffusion faster?

    All three: a bigger concentration gradient, a higher temperature and a larger surface area of membrane.

  24. What is osmosis?

    The diffusion of water from a dilute solution to a concentrated solution through a partially permeable membrane.

  25. What is a partially permeable membrane?

    A membrane that lets small molecules such as water through, but not larger dissolved molecules.

  26. In which direction does water move by osmosis?

    From the more dilute solution to the more concentrated solution.

  27. What is a dilute solution?

    One with a low concentration of dissolved substance.

  28. What is a concentrated solution?

    One with a high concentration of dissolved substance.

  29. What happens if two solutions have the same concentration?

    There is no net movement of water.

  30. Is osmosis a type of diffusion?

    Yes. It is the diffusion of water through a partially permeable membrane.

  31. What happens to a plant cell in a dilute solution?

    Water enters by osmosis and the cell becomes turgid.

  32. What does turgid mean?

    Firm and swollen with water.

  33. What stops a plant cell bursting in a dilute solution?

    Its strong cell wall.

  34. What happens to a plant cell in a concentrated solution?

    Water leaves by osmosis and the cell becomes flaccid.

  35. What does flaccid mean?

    Soft and limp, because the cell has lost water.

  36. What is plasmolysis?

    When so much water leaves that the membrane pulls away from the cell wall.

  37. Why does a plant wilt when it loses water?

    Its cells go flaccid, so they cannot hold the stems and leaves up.

  38. What happens to a red blood cell in pure water?

    Water enters by osmosis, the cell swells and may burst.

  39. Why can a red blood cell burst but a plant cell cannot?

    An animal cell has no cell wall to resist the swelling.

  40. What happens to an animal cell in a concentrated solution?

    Water leaves by osmosis and the cell shrinks and shrivels.

  41. Which way does water move if a cell is in a more dilute solution than its cell sap?

    Into the cell.

  42. What is the usual mistake about the direction of osmosis?

    Saying water moves towards more water. It moves from more water (dilute) to less water (concentrated).

  43. What is an isotonic drink?

    One with the same concentration of dissolved substances as the body's fluids.

  44. A beaker divided by a membrane, with a marker X on the membrane. What is the structure marked X, and what does it let through?

    A partially permeable membrane. It lets small molecules such as water through, but not larger molecules such as sugar.

  45. A beaker with two solutions either side of a membrane, with nothing labelled apart from a key. Label this diagram of osmosis and say which way the water moves. The same beaker with the dilute and concentrated solutions, the membrane and the net movement of water labelled.

  46. Three plant cells in different solutions with water arrows and no labels. What will happen to a plant cell in each of these three solutions? The three plant cells labelled turgid, normal and flaccid.

  47. Describe what happens to a red blood cell in a dilute solution, in a solution of the same concentration and in a concentrated solution. A red blood cell swelling, staying normal and shrinking in three solutions.

    Dilute solution: water enters by osmosis, so the cell swells and may burst. Same concentration: no net movement of water, so it stays normal. Concentrated solution: water leaves by osmosis, so the cell shrinks.

  48. What is the aim of the osmosis practical?

    To investigate the effect of different concentrations of salt or sugar solution on the mass of plant tissue.

  49. Why is potato used?

    It is cheap, easy to cut into identical pieces, and made of cells with partially permeable membranes.

  50. What tool cuts potato cylinders of equal width?

    A cork borer.

  51. What is the independent variable?

    The concentration of the solution.

  52. What is the dependent variable?

    The percentage change in mass of the potato.

  53. Name three control variables.

    The size of the cylinders, the volume of solution, the time in solution (also the temperature and the type of potato).

  54. Why do you blot the cylinders dry before weighing?

    To remove liquid from the surface, which would add extra mass.

  55. What is the formula for percentage change in mass?

    (final mass − start mass) ÷ start mass × 100.

  56. A cylinder goes from 2.00 g to 2.30 g. What is the percentage change?

    +15%.

  57. What does a negative percentage change mean?

    The potato lost mass, because water left it by osmosis.

  58. Why use percentage change and not just change in mass?

    The cylinders start with slightly different masses, and percentages make the results fair to compare.

  59. What does a gain in mass tell you about the solution?

    It is more dilute than the potato cell sap.

  60. What does a loss in mass tell you about the solution?

    It is more concentrated than the potato cell sap.

  61. What does it mean when the graph line crosses zero?

    There is no change in mass, so the solution has the same concentration as the cell sap.

  62. How do you find the concentration of the cell sap from the graph?

    Read the concentration where the line crosses 0% change.

  63. Why use pure water as one of the solutions?

    It is the most dilute solution, and shows the most water entering the potato.

  64. How can you make the results more reliable?

    Repeat the test with several cylinders and calculate a mean.

  65. What is an anomalous result?

    A result that does not fit the pattern of the others.

  66. How could you find the cell sap concentration more accurately?

    Use extra solutions of concentrations close to where the line crosses zero.

  67. Give one safety precaution.

    Cut on a tile, with the blade pointing away from your hands.

  68. Six numbered pictures of the steps of the potato investigation, with no captions. Describe the six steps of the potato osmosis investigation. The six steps of the investigation, each described.

  69. A falling curve of percentage change in mass against concentration with no marks showing where it crosses zero. Read the concentration of the potato cell sap from this graph. The graph with the zero crossing at about 0.33 marked.

    About 0.33 mol/dm³: where the line crosses 0% change, so there is no net movement of water.

  70. A cylinder goes from 3.20 g to 2.72 g. What is the percentage change in mass?

    −15%. The change is 2.72 − 3.20 = −0.48 g, then −0.48 ÷ 3.20 × 100 = −15%.

  71. What is active transport?

    The movement of substances from a more dilute to a more concentrated solution, against a concentration gradient, using energy from respiration.

  72. What does active transport need?

    Energy from respiration.

  73. Does active transport move substances up or down the concentration gradient?

    Up it: from low concentration to high concentration.

  74. Which sub-cellular structures release the energy for active transport?

    Mitochondria.

  75. Why do cells that do a lot of active transport have many mitochondria?

    They release the energy from respiration that active transport needs.

  76. What is a carrier protein?

    A protein in the cell membrane that picks up a particular substance and moves it across.

  77. Give an example of active transport in plants.

    Mineral ions being taken into root hair cells from the dilute soil solution.

  78. Why do plants need mineral ions?

    For healthy growth. For example nitrate for proteins and magnesium for chlorophyll.

  79. Why can't root hair cells take up ions by diffusion?

    The ions are at a lower concentration in the soil than in the cell.

  80. Give an example of active transport in animals.

    Sugar being absorbed from the gut into the blood.

  81. Why is active transport needed to absorb sugar from the gut?

    Sometimes the concentration of sugar in the gut is lower than in the blood.

  82. Why must the body absorb sugar?

    Sugar molecules are used for cell respiration.

  83. What happens to active transport if a cell stops respiring?

    It stops, because there is no energy.

  84. Why does waterlogged soil reduce ion uptake?

    Less oxygen means less respiration, so less energy for active transport.

  85. How does active transport differ from diffusion?

    It goes against the concentration gradient and needs energy. Diffusion goes down the gradient and needs none.

  86. Which processes need no energy from the cell?

    Diffusion and osmosis.

  87. Which process moves only water?

    Osmosis.

  88. What does "against the concentration gradient" mean?

    From a lower concentration to a higher concentration.

  89. What is the usual mistake about active transport?

    Saying it is the same as diffusion, or forgetting that it needs energy.

  90. Is a ball rolling uphill a good picture of diffusion or active transport?

    Active transport: it takes energy to push it up.

  91. Active transport across a cell membrane with a marker X on the carrier protein. What is the structure marked X, and what does it do?

    A carrier protein. It picks up a substance and moves it across the cell membrane, against the concentration gradient, using energy from respiration.

  92. Active transport across a membrane with nothing labelled. Label this diagram of active transport and say what the mitochondrion is for. The same diagram with the lower and higher concentrations, the carrier protein and the energy from respiration labelled.

  93. Three pictures with no labels: a ball rolling downhill, water crossing a membrane, and a ball pushed uphill. Name each process and say which needs energy. The three transport processes named and described, with active transport the only one needing energy.

  94. Root hair cell and gut examples of active transport. Why can't a root hair cell take in mineral ions by diffusion?

    The mineral ions are at a lower concentration in the soil than in the root hair cell, so they would diffuse out. Active transport moves them in against the gradient, using energy from respiration.