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Cambridge O Level Biology Your notes

3.1 Diffusion & Osmosis

Contents
Diffusion
Factors that Influence Diffusion
Water
Osmosis
Osmosis Experiments
Osmosis in Animals & Plants

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Diffusion
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Diffusion
Diffusion is the movement of molecules from a region of its higher concentration to a region of its
lower concentration
Molecules move down a concentration gradient, as a result of their random movement

Diffusion across the cell membrane

For living cells, the principle of the movement down a concentration gradient is the same, but the cell
is surrounded by a cell membrane which can restrict the free movement of the molecules
The cell membrane is a partially permeable membrane - this means it allows some molecules to cross
easily, but others with difficulty or not at all
The simplest sort of selection is based on the size of the molecules
Diffusion helps living organisms to:
obtain many of their requirements
get rid of many of their waste products
carry out gas exchange for respiration
Examples of Diffusion Table

Site Molecules Moving From To

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Products of digested
Small
food such a glucose Lumen of small intestine Blood in villi capillaries
intestine Your notes
and amino acids
Chloroplasts in mesophyll
Air spaces between
Leaf Carbon dioxide or palisade cells (for
mesophyll cells
photosynthesis)
Air spaces between Mitochondria of mesophyll
Leaf Oxygen
mesophyll cells cells (for respiration)
Blood in alveoli
Lungs Carbon dioxide Alveolar air space
capillaries

Lungs Oxygen Alveolar air space Blood in alveoli capillaries

Where does the energy for diffusion come from?

All particles move randomly at all times
The energy for diffusion comes from the kinetic energy of this random movement of molecules and
ions
Random movement of particles diagram

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Particles move randomly due to the kinetic energy all particles possess
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Factors that Influence Diffusion

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Factors that Influence Diffusion
There are four key factors that influence diffusion of particles
Surface area to volume ratio
Distance
Temperature
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 - e.g. root hair
cells in plants (which absorb water and mineral ions) and cells lining the ileum in animals (which absorb
the products of digestion)
Diffusion and surface area to volume ratio diagram

Cell adaptations for diffusion

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Your notes

The highly folded surface of the small intestine increases its surface area
Distance
The shorter the distance molecules have to travel, the faster diffusion will occur
This is why blood capillaries and alveoli have walls which are only one cell thick, ensure the rate of
diffusion across them is as fast as possible
Temperature
The higher the temperature, the faster molecules move
This is because they have more kinetic 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 on 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

Examiner Tip
You should have carried out investigations into the factors that influence the rate of diffusion and so
should be able to use the information above to explain experimental results in an exam.

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Water
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Water as a Solvent
Water is important for all living organisms as many substances are able to dissolve in it (it is a solvent)
This makes it incredibly useful and essential for all life on Earth
Water is important as a solvent in the following situations within organisms:
Dissolved substances can be easily transported around organisms - e.g. xylem and phloem of
plants and dissolved food molecules in the blood
Digested food molecules are in the lumen of the intestines but need to be moved to cells all over
the body - without water as a solvent this would not be able to happen
Toxic substances such as urea and substances in excess of requirements such as salts can dissolve
in water which makes them easy to remove from the body in urine
Water is also an important part of the cytoplasm and plays a role in ensuring metabolic reactions
can happen as necessary in cells
Water as a solvent diagram

Water as a solvent

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Osmosis
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Osmosis
All cells are surrounded by a cell membrane which is partially permeable
Water can move across this membrane and in and out of cells by osmosis
Osmosis is the net movement of water molecules from a high water potential (dilute solution) to a low
water potential (more concentrated solution) across a partially permeable membrane
In doing this, water is moving down its concentration gradient
The cell membrane is partially permeable which means it allows small molecules (like water) through
but not larger molecules (like solute molecules)
Partially permeable membrane diagram

Osmosis and the partially permeable membrane, where water molecules move through a partially
permeable membrane from a region of high water potential to a region of low water potential

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Osmosis Experiments
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Osmosis Experiments
Immersing plant cells in solutions of different concentrations
The most common osmosis practical involves cutting cylinders of root vegetables such as potato or
radish and placing them into distilled water and sucrose solutions of increasing concentration
The 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
Osmosis Experiment Diagram

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Your notes

Potatoes are usually used in osmosis experiments to show how the concentration of a solution affects
the movement of water, but radishes and carrots can be used too
If the plant tissue gains mass:
Water must have moved into the plant tissue from the solution surrounding it by osmosis
The solution surrounding the tissue is more dilute and has a higher water potential than the plant
tissue (which is more concentrated)
The plant tissue will become turgid
This is because water molecules, inside the cell, push the cell membrane against the cell wall,
increasing the turgor pressure in the cells which makes them turgid
If plant tissue loses mass:
Water must have moved out of the plant tissue into the solution surrounding it by osmosis

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The solution surrounding the tissue is more concentrated and has a lower water potential than the
plant tissue (which is more dilute)
The plant tissue will become flacid Your notes
This is because the cell membrane is pulled away from the cell wall and the cell can no longer
support itself; the cell is said to be plasmolysed
If there is no overall change in mass:
There has been no net movement of water as the concentration in both the plant tissue and the
solution surrounding it must be equal
Remember that water will still be moving into and out of the plant tissue, but there wouldn’t be any
net movement in this case

Investigating osmosis using dialysis tubing

Dialysis tubing (sometimes referred to as visking tubing) is a non-living partially permeable membrane
made from cellulose
The tubing can be used to model and investigate the process of osmosis outside of a cellular
environment
Pores in this membrane are small enough to prevent the passage of large molecules (such as sucrose)
but allow smaller molecules (such as glucose and water) to pass through by diffusion and osmosis
This can be demonstrated by:
Filling a section of dialysis tubing with concentrated sucrose solution
Suspending the tubing in a boiling tube of distilled water for a set period of time
Noting whether the water level outside the tubing decreases as water moves into the tubing via
osmosis
Water moves from a region of higher water potential (dilute solution) to a region of lower
water potential (concentrated solution), through a partially permeable membrane
Osmosis Experiment Diagram

An example setup of a dialysis tubing experiment

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Osmosis in Animals & Plants

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Osmosis in Plant Tissues
When water moves into a plant cell, the vacuole gets bigger, pushing the cell membrane against the
cell wall
Water entering the cell by osmosis makes the cell rigid and firm
This is important for plants as the effect of all the cells in a plant being firm is to provide support and
strength for the plant - making the plant stand upright with its leaves held out to catch sunlight
The pressure created by the cell wall stops too much water entering and prevents the cell from
bursting
If plants do not receive enough water the cells cannot remain rigid and firm (turgid) and the plant wilts

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Osmosis in Animals & Plants: Continued

Osmosis is the net movement of water molecules from a region of higher water potential (dilute Your notes
solution) to a region of lower water potential (concentrated solution), through a partially permeable
membrane
It can get a little confusing to talk about the 'concentration of water' when we also talk about solutions
being ‘concentrated’ (having a lot of solute in them), so instead we can say that a dilute solution has a
high water potential (the right-hand side of the diagram below) and a concentrated solution has a low
water potential (the left-hand side of the diagram below)
Osmosis and Water Potential Diagram

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How osmosis works

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Examiner Tip
The best explanations to do with osmosis will refer to water potential, so if you are aiming for a high
grades you will need to understand the concept and use it in your explanations.

Plant cells in solutions of different concentrations

When plant cells are placed in a solution that has a higher water potential (dilute solution) than inside
the cells (e.g. distilled water) then water moves into the plant cells via osmosis
These water molecules push the cell membrane against the cell wall, increasing the turgor pressure in
the cells which makes them turgid
Turgid Plant Cell Diagram

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Your notes

A turgid plant cell

When plant cells are placed in a concentrated solution (with a lower water potential than inside the
cells) water molecules will move out of the plant cells by osmosis, making them flaccid
If plant cells become flaccid it can negatively affect the plant's ability to support itself

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If looked at underneath the microscope, the plant cells might be plasmolysed, meaning the cell
membrane has pulled away from the cell wall
Plasmolysed Plant Cell Diagram Your notes

A plasmolysed plant cell

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Animal cells in solutions of different concentrations

Animal cells also lose and gain water as a result of osmosis Your notes
As animal cells do not have a supporting cell wall, the results on the cell are more severe
If an animal cell is placed into a concentrated sugar solution (with a lower water potential than the cell),
it will lose water by osmosis and become crenated (shrivelled up)
If an animal cell is placed into distilled water (with a higher water potential than the cell), it will gain
water by osmosis and, as it has no cell wall to create turgor pressure, will continue to do so until the
cell membrane is stretched too far and it bursts
Water Potential and Animal Cells Diagram

Effect of osmosis on animal cells (hypertonic solution is a concentrated solution, hypotonic solution is a
dilute solution, isotonic solution has the same solute concentration and water concentration compared
to the cells within it)

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