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Movement of Water into the Root Hair Cells

If the concentration of mineral ions in the soil is higher than the concentration of mineral ions in the root hair cell, then mineral ions are taken up by root hair cells by facilitated diffusion.Mineral ions are taken up by active transport if the concentration of the minerals in the soil is less than the concentration of minerals in the root hair cell.Water flows down its water potential gradient by osmosis.The low water potential inside the root hair cell is maintained by having a high mineral ion concentration in the cytoplasm causing the cytoplasm to have a more negative solute potential.An exceptionally large vacuole stores a lot of glucose and mineral salts lowering the water potential of the cell. A large vacuole enables the cell to store more water.

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Specification: AQA Biology (7401), AS-level, 3.3.4.2 Mass transport in plants. Topic: Mass Transport in Plants.

Key terms in this lesson

vacuole: A membrane-bound sac, permanent and large in plant cells, used for storage and to maintain turgor pressure.
diffusion: The net passive movement of molecules or ions from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration, down a concentration gradient.
facilitated diffusion: The passive movement of molecules or ions down their concentration gradient through protein channels or carrier proteins.
osmosis: The net movement of water molecules from a region of higher water potential to a region of lower water potential through a selectively permeable membrane.
water potential: The pressure created by water molecules, a measure of the tendency of water to move out of a solution; pure water has a water potential of zero and solutes make it more negative.

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