Passive Transport
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Printed: January 13, 2013
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C ONCEPT
Concept 1. Passive Transport
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Passive Transport
• Explain what passive transport is and how it works.
Can any molecule move freely through your cell membranes?
The cell regulates most molecules that pass through the cell membrane. If a molecule is charged or very big, it won’t
make it through the cell membrane on its own. However, small, non-charged molecules like oxygen, carbon dioxide,
and water, can pass through the cell membrane freely.
Passive Transport
Recall that the cell membrane is semipermeable. It does not allow everything to pass through. Some molecules can
pass easily through your cell membranes, while others have more difficulty. Sometimes molecules need the help of
special transport proteins to move across the cell membrane. Some molecules even need an input of energy to help
get them across the cell membrane. The movement of molecules across a membrane without the input of energy is
known as passive transport. When energy is needed, the movement is known as active transport.
Simple Diffusion
One example of passive transport is diffusion, when molecules move from an area of high concentration (large
amount) to an area of low concentration (low amount). Molecules are said to flow down their concentration gradient.
This type of diffusion proceeds without an input of energy. In simple diffusion, molecules that are small and
uncharged can freely diffuse across a cell membrane. They simply flow through the cell membrane. Simple diffusion
does not require energy or need the assistance of a transport protein. Other larger or charged molecules that diffuse
across a membrane may need assistance from a protein.
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Oxygen is a molecule that can freely diffuse across a cell membrane. For example, oxygen diffuses out of the air sacs
in your lungs into your bloodstream because oxygen is more concentrated in your lungs than in your blood. Oxygen
moves from the high concentration of oxygen in your lungs to the low concentration of oxygen in your bloodstream.
Passive Transport using Membrane Proteins
Sometimes, molecules cannot move through the cell membrane on their own. These molecules need special transport
proteins to help them move across the membrane, a process known as facilitative diffusion. These special proteins
are called channel proteins or carrier proteins (Figure 1.1), and they are attached to the cell membrane. In fact,
they go through the cell membrane, from the inside of the cell to the outside. Channel proteins provide an open
channel or passageway through the cell membrane for molecules to move across. Many channel proteins allow the
diffusion of ions. Carrier proteins bind and carry the molecules across the cell membrane. These proteins bind a
molecule on one side of the membrane, change shape as they carry the molecule across the membrane, and deposit
the molecule on the other side of the membrane. Even though a protein is involved in both these methods of transport,
neither method requires energy. Therefore these are still types of passive transport.
FIGURE 1.1
Protein channels and carrier proteins are
involved in passive transport.
Vocabulary
• active transport: Movement across a membrane during which molecules move from an area of low concentration to an area of high concentration.
• carrier protein: Transport protein that aids in diffusion by carrying a molecule across the membrane.
• channel protein: Transport protein that aids in diffusion by creating a passageway through the membrane.
• diffusion: Movement of molecules from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration.
• facilitative diffusion: Diffusion in which assistance by a transport protein is required.
• ion: Charged atom; atom that has gained or lost one or more electrons.
• passive transport: Movement of molecules across a membrane without the input of energy.
• simple diffusion: Diffusion in which molecules freely move across the membrane; no assistance by proteins
is necessary.
Summary
• Passive transport does not require energy input.
• An example of passive transport is diffusion, the movement of molecules from an area of high concentration
to an area of low concentration.
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Concept 1. Passive Transport
• Carrier proteins and channel proteins are involved in facilitated diffusion.
Practice
Use the resource below to answer the questions that follow.
• Cell Membrane Passive Transport at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JShwXBWGMyY (4:41)
MEDIA
Click image to the left for more content.
1. What does selectively permeable mean?
2. Can a membrane control the direction of diffusion? Explain your reasoning fully.
3. Give two examples of phospholipid soluble molecules? How can these molecules move across a cell membrane? What affects the direction of their movement?
4. What is the difference between simple and facilitated diffusion? What are two types of facilitated diffusion?
5. What characteristics do all channel proteins have? How do channel proteins differ? How do the differences in
channel proteins give cells more control over what enters and exits a cell?
Review
1. Explain two ways materials can enter the cell through passive transport.
2. Does passive transport involve an expenditure of much energy? Why or why not?
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