Cell Membrane: Description of Substance Movement and Relation to Structure

TASK 16 CELL
MEMBRANE

Table of Contents
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
1. Description of the movement of substances across the cell membrane...................................3
2. The ways in which exchange of material across the cell membrane is related to its structure
......................................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

MAIN BODY
1. Description of the movement of substances across the cell membrane
Diffusion
Diffusion can be described as a method through which the substances move around the
membrane. In this process, the molecules move from one place to another but specifically from a
high concentration area to a low concentration region within the body of an individual. The
major reason behind this process is that the molecules collide with each other and gives rise to
the process of diffusion within an individual (Dhariwal and Nichol, 2021). Diffusion can be
referred to as a movement that can take place at any time within the body of a person and depicts
a candid movement of the molecules downwards which is referred to as concentration gradient.
The diffusion takes place because, it is the basic nature of molecules to move from a high
concentration region to a low concentration area. For instance, when a drop of a colour meets the
surface of a beaker of water, the process of diffusion takes place and suddenly all the molecules
in the beaker starts spread and change the colour of the water.
Osmosis
Osmosis is also a method through which the substances flow and moves across the
membrane within the body of a human being. The process of osmosis is different from the
process of diffusion. However, it can be described as the flow of water one place that is high
concentrated area to another that is a low concentrated area inside the human body. The process
of osmosis takes place beside a membrane that is semipermeable. A semipermeable member
refers to a membrane which only allows specific molecules to pass beside that membrane and
restricts the other molecules to pass from the same (Zhao and et.al., 2021). The process of
osmosis only includes water molecules. For instance, if a beaker has a semipermeable membrane
within, then it will divide the molecules within the beaker into two parts. In both the parts, the
water level remains same, however, it has been noted that concentration levels on both the sides
are different which leads to the process of osmosis. Similar, is the process of osmosis within a
human body.