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What will pass through the lipid bilayer the fastest? List from fastest to slowest.

nitrogen, calcium ion, glucose, and a lipid 5C chain

If anyone knows the answer please help me out.
(edited 6 years ago)
I'd say on the ease of how well each should get through:

1) Lipid
2) Glucose
3) Nitrogen
4) Calcium ion

Lipid bilayer only allows things that an dissolve in it to pass through with ease. This means non polar chemicals that dissolve in fats travel through with ease. Lipids do with great ease (they are the same thing!). Glucose can do so with some ease because of all the carbon atoms. Nitrogen probably would very poorly if at all, and im not sure when it would be a relevant chemical to cross a bilayer. Calcium ions won't transport across virtually at all, unless there is a massive concentration gradient, in which case it would still be small. They usually need transporter proteins to help with that. If you take into account those too, then the answers i gave above would likely be different.
Reply 2
Original post by QuentinM
I'd say on the ease of how well each should get through:

1) Lipid
2) Glucose
3) Nitrogen
4) Calcium ion

Lipid bilayer only allows things that an dissolve in it to pass through with ease. This means non polar chemicals that dissolve in fats travel through with ease. Lipids do with great ease (they are the same thing!). Glucose can do so with some ease because of all the carbon atoms. Nitrogen probably would very poorly if at all, and im not sure when it would be a relevant chemical to cross a bilayer. Calcium ions won't transport across virtually at all, unless there is a massive concentration gradient, in which case it would still be small. They usually need transporter proteins to help with that. If you take into account those too, then the answers i gave above would likely be different.


But the question asked what would move through the lipid bilayer the fastest. I looked at a chart and what I concluded was that ions would be the slowest because of their big charge and basically can not go through. Then the second slowest would be glucose because it is such a big molecule so it is slower, but it could still pass the lipid bilayer because it is an uncharged molecule. What I really needed help with is whether Nitrogen (N2) would travel through the lipid bilayer faster than a 5C chain lipid because everywhere I have read it says that small nonpolar molecules such as Nitrogen moves the fastest through the bilayer but no one really discusses how fast a lipid moves through the lipid bilayer so I do not know how to compare them.
On the exam I put ...
1. Nitrogen
2. Lipid 5C chain
3.Glucose
4.Calcium ion
but I am not sure if 1 and 2 should be switched or not
(edited 6 years ago)

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