How Do Things Move In And Out Of The Cell?
How do things move in and out of the cell?
Things move in and out of the cell in two ways: passive transport and active transport.
Passive transport - entails the movement of materials through the process called osmosis and diffusion. Passive transport does not expend energy in the process. Osmosis is the net movement of water from areas of lower solute concentration to areas of higher solute solution. This happens in a semipermeable membrane. Diffusion, on the other hand, is the movement of solute from areas of higher concentration to areas with lower concentration. This is useful in electrochemical gradients such as nerve impulses.
Active transport - entails the use of enzymes and other biochemical pumps to allow movement of materials in and out of the cells. This process expends energy, which is why it is called active. An example of this is the sodium-potassium pump which is necessary in the transmission of impulses and movement of our muscles.
For more information about osmosis, diffusion, active, and passive transport, you may click on the links below:
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