Osmosis And Diffusion

Words: 696
Pages: 3

Diffusion is when the molecules in a space spread to fit the space they occupy. This prevents clusters of molecules from occupying one space and leaving the rest empty. An example of this would be have a container of water with a wall dividing the water from the empty part of the container. Opening the wall would “diffuse” the water and cause it to flow into the empty part of the container. It is considered passive because it doesn't require any energy. Using the water as example for this, the water doesn't need any energy to fall into the empty space.

Active transport is a way of forcefully moving molecules where you want them to go, which requires energy. An example of this would be taking the wall and wading it through the container to
…show more content…
There are three types of osmosis. Hypertonic, hypotonic, and isotonic. Hypertonic is when a red blood cell is pleased in a solution with low solvent, which causes the cell to struggle to maintain homeostasis. This in turn will cause the cell to use release most of its water to be equal with its surroundings which causes the cell to dehydrate, shrivel up, and die. Hypotonic is the exact opposite, when there is so much solvent that the cell has to take in more of it than normal. This causes the cell to burst from the large quantity of water it intakes. Isotonic is the perfect balance, which allows the water molecules to phase in and out, leaving the cell and human body in perfect …show more content…
When we take in oxygen through our lounges it goes down into our alveoli (a small sac of thin cells located in the lounges) and into our capillary beds. The capillary beds have a large amount of carbon dioxide in them. These will diffuse, with the beds releasing carbon dioxide to make room for the oxygen in order to maintain homeostasis.

Not pictured: The water level in the A side will slowly rise
As stated earlier, the cell would maintain homeostasis when placed in a isotonic solution, shrivel up and die in a hypertonic solution, and overfill and burst in a hypotonic solution

Facilitated diffusion does not require energy because the molecules still move along their gradient, but they have to pass through a protein in order to go through. As explained earlier, the protein is simply a port that allows certain molecules in and out of the cell.

When a molecule is flowing along its gradient there is a chance it will come in contact with one of the many proteins laid out along the membrane. When it comes in contact the protein will change its shape to push the molecule further in while keeping it on pace with its