BIO 1140 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1-2: Cuvette, Partition Coefficient, Sodium Chloride
7 Feb 2016
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Materials are continually being exchanged between living organisms and their environments. At the cellular level this depends on several physiological properties collectively referred to as the permeability of the cell or plasma membrane. Membrane permeability is based on properties of surface membranes and driving forces. Cell membranes are differentially permeable to various materials and show alterations in permeability under (fig. Driving forces are those physical forces that depend on the concentration of a substance across a cell membrane and on the electrical potential of the cell. These experiments consider cell permeability in relation to diffusion gradients and the structure of the cell membrane as revealed by the penetration of solutes with various characteristics. 7), indicated by the sudden appearance of a clear red solution in place of the previously murky suspension of red blood cells (fig. 2), results from the swelling and bursting of the red blood cells because of the penetration of solute and water through the membrane.
