Video Transcript
If there is a high concentration of
potassium ions in the soil, they move to an area of low concentration in the
roots. What term is given to this
process? (A) Diffusion, (B) synthesis, (C)
osmosis, (D) digestion, or (E) active transport.
Much like humans, plants need to
obtain a certain amount of different nutrients to stay alive and healthy. Potassium is a crucial nutrient in
plants as it plays an important role in biological processes like protein synthesis
and photosynthesis. When particles or molecules are
found in large concentrations in a particular area, they tend to spread out and move
into areas where there’s a lower concentration of these particles or molecules. If this process is occurring over
the surface of a membrane such as that in the root, the potassium ions will continue
to move across this membrane from an area of high concentration to low concentration
until eventually the concentration of molecules either side of the membrane evens
out. This process is known as
diffusion.
Diffusion is described as a passive
process as it does not require energy to move the particles from an area of their
high concentration to an area of their low concentration. In the question, we’re told that
potassium is in a high concentration in the soil and moves to an area of lower
concentration in the roots. So we know that the potassium ions
will be moving into the roots where it’s in a lower concentration by diffusion.
