Chapter 9.

2
Moving Cellular Materials
Passive Transport
a. Cells take in food, oxygen, and other substances from their environment
b. Cells release waste material into their environment
c. A cell has a membrane around it that works like a window screen
d. A cell’s membrane is selectively permeable
i. It allows some things to enter or leave the cell while others are kept inside
the cell
e. Passive Transport- the movement of substances through the cell membrane
without the input of energy
i. Three types of passive transport can occur
ii. The type depends on what is moving through the cell membrane
Diffusion
a. Diffusion- random movement of molecules from an area where there is
relatively more of them to an area where there is relatively fewer
b. Type of cellular passive transport
c. Molecules will continue to move until the relative number of these
molecules is equal in the two areas
d. Equilibrium- when the relative number of molecules of a substance is
equal in two areas
i. After equilibrium is reached diffusion stops
ii. After equilibrium occurs, it is maintained because molecules
continue to move
Oxygen
a. Every cell in your body uses oxygen
b. But how does it get from your lungs to cells around your body?
c. Oxygen is carried throughout your body in your blood by the red
blood cells
d. When blood is pumped by your heart to your lungs, there is not
much oxygen in the cells
e. Your lungs have more oxygen molecules than your red blood
cells do, so oxygen diffuses into your red blood cells from your
lungs
Oxygen (con’t)

f. When the blood reaches your extremities, there are more

oxygen molecules in your red blood cells than in the extremities
g. The oxygen diffuses from your red blood cells to your
extremities
Osmosis - the Diffusion of Water
a. Water makes up a large part of living matter
b. Cells contain water and are surrounded by water
c. Water molecules move by diffusion in and out of cells
d. Osmosis- the diffusion of water through a cell membrane
e. If cells were not surrounded by water that contained few dissolved
substances, water inside cells would diffuse out of them
i. Losing water from a plant cell causes its cell membranes to come
away from its cell wall
ii. This reduces the pressure against its cell wall and a plant cell
becomes limp
a. Osmosis takes place in animal cells too
Animal cells are different from plant cells - if too much water enters the cell, the cell
will burst
Facilitated Diffusion

a. Facilitated Diffusion- some molecules are so large that

they can only enter the cell with the help of molecules in the
cell membrane called transport proteins
i. A type of passive transport
b. Transport proteins are used to move substances into and out
of the cell
Active Transport

a. Active transport- when an input of energy is required to

move materials through a cell membrane
b. Involves transport proteins
i. Binds with the needed particle and cellular energy is
used to move it through the cell membrane.
ii. When the particle is released, the transport protein can
move another needed particle through the membrane
Endocytosis and Exocytosis
a. Some molecules and particles are too large to move by diffusion or to use the cell
membrane’s transport proteins
b. Large protein molecules and bacteria can enter a cell when they are surrounded by a cell
membrane
i. The cell membrane folds in on itself, enclosing the item in a sphere called a vesicle
ii. Vesicles are transport and storage structures in a cell’s cytoplasm
iii. The sphere pinches off and the resulting vesicle enters the cytoplasm
c. Endocytosis- the process of taking substances into a cell by surrounding it with the cell
membrane
d. Exocytosis- a vesicle membrane fuses with a cell membrane, and the vesicle’s contents
are released
i. Cells in your stomach use this process to release chemicals that help digest food
Ways Materials Can Enter and Leave the Cell
Summary
a. Cells take in substances and release waste through their cell
membranes
b. Facilitated diffusion and osmosis are types of passive transport
c. Transport proteins are involved in active transport
d. Transport proteins can be reused many times
e. Vesicles are formed when a cell takes in a substance by
endocytosis
f. Contents of a vesicle are released to the outside of a cell by
exocytosis
Exit Ticket - Answer 4
a. Describe how cell membranes are selectively permeable.
i. ?
b. Compare and contrast the processes of osmosis and diffusion.
i. ?
c. Infer why endocytosis and exocytosis are important processes to cells.
i. ?
d. Why are fresh fruits and vegetables sprinkled with water at produce markets?
i. ?
e. Seawater is saltier than tap water. Explain why drinking large amounts of
seawater would be dangerous for humans.
i. ?