The Student Room Group
Reply 1
Water that is lost during respiration needs to be replaced.
xxxpenguinnnxxx
I know about cells becoming turgid and plasmolysed etc, but does anyone know why osmosis is actually important?


Well, as you know, osmosis if the diffusion of water. Many nutrients and essential molecules that are need to live and carried/dissolved in water. So if water couldn't diffuse, we wouldn't get essential molecules to live.
Osmosis is of prime importance in living organism, where it influences the distribution of nutrients and the release of metabolic waste products. Living cells of both plants and animals are enclosed by a partially-permeable membrane called the cell membrane, which regulates the flow of liquids and of dissolved solids and gases into and out of the cell. The membrane forms a selective barrier between the cell and its environment; not all substances can pass through the membrane with equal facility. Without this selectivity, the substances necessary to the life of the cell would diffuse uniformly into the cell's surroundings, and toxic materials from the surroundings would enter the cell.



source: http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/sci/A0860174.html

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