Active Transport Flashcards
What do the cells on plant roots grow into?
“Hairs” which stick out into the soil.
How many microscopic hairs cover each branch of a root?
Millions.
What do all the hairs covering each branch of a root give?
It gives the plant a large surface area for absorbing water and mineral ions from the soil.
Why do plants need mineral ions?
For healthy growth.
Where is the concentration of minerals higher? What does this mean?
It’s higher in the root hair cells than in the soil around them. This means the root hair cells can’t use diffusion to take up minerals from the soil.
What process happens so that root hair cells can take up minerals from the soil?
Active transport. It allows the plant to absorb minerals from a very dilute solution, against a concentration gradient. This is essential for its growth.
What does active transport need from respiration to make it work?
Energy.
Where does active transport happen in humans?
One example would be taking glucose from the gut and from the kidney tubules.
When is active transport used in the gut?
When there is a lower concentration of nutrients in the gut, but a higher concentration of nutrients in the blood (allows nutrients to be taken into the blood, even when the concentration graident is the wrong way).
What happens when there’s a higher concentration of glucose and amino acids in the gut?
They diffuse naturally into the blood.
What does active transport in the gut mean for glucose?
Glucose can be taken into the bloodstream when its concentration in the blood is already higher than in the gut. It can then be transported to cells, where it’s used for respiration.
