Question #2d0d7
1 Answer
Active transport moves solutes against the gradient. Osmosis is the transport of solutes along with the gradient
Explanation:
Active transport is when a cell expends energy to move solutes against the gradient. This costs energy as this is not a "natural" state for the balance of solutes to be in, imagine this as lifting up one side of the scale to change the balance.
One example of active transport is the ion balance in nerve cells. ATP is expended to bring sodium from the inside of the cell to the outside, whilst bringing in potassium from the outside to the inside. This requires energy as the concentration of sodium is lower inside the cell than outside the cell and the concentration of potassium is higher inside the cell than outside the cell.
Osmosis is the passive transport of solutes. In osmosis the solutes will try to reach an equilibrium between two solutions, they try to have the same concentration in both solutions. If moving the solutes isn't possible due to e.g. membrane properties, water will try to move from the lower concentration to higher concentration, in order to equalize the concentrations.
You can see the movement of water to equalize the concentrations of the two solutions, as the sugar can't pass this membrane.
