EGG CELL Health, Medicine, Nursing Coursework Paper (Coursework Sample)

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Membrane Hands-on Laboratory: Part of Competency 5 Performance Assessment
Introduction
Transport may either be active or passive. Active transport entails the movement of materials in such a way that the cell expends energy. Passive transport involves the movement of substances across a membrane without the involvement of any form of energy by the cell (Fisher et al. 418). The current lab experiment is based on passive transport. Diffusion is the simplest means of passive transport, and it is the process through which molecules move from a region of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration without the use of energy (Fisher et al. 418). It is purely driven by the kinetic energy existing in the molecules. It will occur until a state of equilibrium is achieved. Osmosis is yet another type of passive transport, and it is the process through which water molecules move across a semi-permeable membrane from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration (Jiao et al. 36). In osmosis, the direction of the movement of molecules will be determined by the relative concentration of solutes on both sides (Jiao et al. 36). For osmosis, the cell is usually selectively permeable, which means that it will only allow the passage of certain substances.