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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: OCR Biology A (H020), AS-level, 3.1.3 Transport in plants. Topic: Mass Transport in Plants.

Key terms in this lesson

diffusion
The net 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 a channel or carrier protein.
active transport
The movement of molecules or ions across a membrane, often against their concentration gradient, using ATP and 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
A measure of the tendency of water molecules to move out of a solution; pure water has a water potential of zero and adding solute lowers it.

More in Mass Transport in Plants

All 18 lessons in Mass Transport in Plants · All OCR AS-level Biology topics