osmosis

Question 1

1) Give a definition of osmosis

Answer 1

movement of water from an area of high concentration to an area of low conc until equilibrium reached

Question 2

2) Under what conditions would water move into a cell via osmosis?

Answer 2

when the concentration of water outside of the cell is higher than the conc inside it

Question 3

3) Under what conditions would water move out of a cell via osmosis?

Answer 3

if the concentration of water is higher inside the cell than outside of it.

Question 4

4) Explain why plant cells store glucose in the form of amylose/amylopectin and animal cells store glucose in the form of glycogen

Answer 4

glycogen is more branched than amylose & amylopectin and can be broken down into sugars more quickly this is important as animals have a much higher metabolic rate than plants so they need to be able to retrieve sugars faster than plants

Question 5

5) Explain why plant cells store glucose in the form of amylose/amylopectin and animal cells store glucose in the form of glycogen

Answer 5

amylose is a long, straight chain of alpha glucoses with 1-4 glycosidic bonds which means it can be densely packed for storage & broken down for energy

Amylopectin & glycogen are similar, both are branched chains of alpha glucoses containing 1-4 & 1-6 glycosidic bonds. More branches means they have more terminal glucoses which means they can be rapidly broken down via hydrolysis for energy.

All 3 are insoluble in water so they dont disrupt osmotic balance.