BRAINCAKEOsmosis in Animal Cells
Animal cells are enclosed in a cell membrane made of a phospholipid bilayer.
The cytoplasm has various solutes dissolved in it so has a negative water potential.
The diameter of a red blood cell is about 7nm. If a red blood cell in placed in pure water, water will move into the cell by osmosis.
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Key terms in this lesson
- phospholipid bilayer
- Two layers of phospholipid molecules arranged with hydrophilic heads facing outwards and hydrophobic tails facing inwards, forming the basic structure of cell membranes.
- 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 Plasma Membrane
- Solvents
- Diffusion
- Diffusion Across Membranes
- Facilitated Diffusion
- Active Transport
- Bulk Transport
- Osmosis
- Osmosis in Plant Cells
All 18 lessons in Plasma Membrane · All OCR AS-level Biology topics