Diffusion Flashcards
What is a cell surface membrane?
It acts like a boundary between cell contents and their surroundings.
How may materials pass in and out of the cells?
Diffusion, osmosis, active transport, phagocytosis
What is the cell membrane permeable and impermeable to?
It is permeable to glucose and water but impermeable to protein.
What is the definition of diffusion?
Diffusion is the net movement of particles from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration down a concentration gradient.
Where does the energy for diffusion come from?
The energy for diffusion comes from the kinetic energy of the random movement of particles.
3 factors that affect the rate of diffusion
Temperature, concentration, surface area.
What is a concentration gradient?
The process of solutes, moving through a solution or gas from an area with a higher number of particles to an area with a lower number of particles.
What does it mean to go down a concentration gradient?
Down a Concentration Gradient refers to going from regions of high concentration to regions of low concentration, and such movement generally occurs spontaneously.
What is the key idea behind diffusion?
If molecules are left alone, they’ll move about randomly.
High concentration
The particles are close together in abundance
Low concentration
The particles are spread out.
Net movement
Movement of all the particles considered together as a group.
States of matter in which diffusion can occur
Diffusion can happen in both liquids and gases.
Partially permeable meaning
Only some molecules can diffuse through
Does diffusion require energy from the cell?
Diffusion is a passive process so it doesn’t require any energy from the cell.
