How do plants absorb water and nutrients?
How do plants absorb water and nutrients?
Video showing how roots take up substances from the soil via osmosis, diffusion, and active transport.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Video showing how roots take up substances from the soil via osmosis, diffusion, and active transport.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.It's not easy being green.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Fertilization and germination of seeds.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.In growing plants, roots and leaves play an essential role in transporting the materials the plant needs to survive, such as carbon dioxide, water, and mineral salts.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.The location, importance, and mechanisms of photosynthesis. Study the roles of chloroplasts, chlorophyll, grana, thylakoid membranes, and stroma in photosynthesis.
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© American Chemical Society (A Britannica Publishing Partner)Understand how catnip triggers excitatory reactions in cats and how kitty litter (fuller's earth) along with additives like baking soda, artificial scents, and antibacterial agents absorb foul-smelling cat urine.
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Archival footage supplied by the Internet Moving Images Archive (at archive.org) in association with Prelinger ArchivesAugusta Savage sculpting, in an excerpt from A Study of Negro Artists, a silent film produced by the Harmon Foundation and released in the 1930s that features many artists active during the Harlem Renaissance.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Chloroplasts play a key role in the process of photosynthesis. Learn about photosynthesis's light reaction in the grana and thylakoid membrane and dark reaction in the stroma.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Sometimes science is about playing in the sandbox.
Transcript
NARRATOR: In most land plants, oxygen and carbon dioxide enter through the leaves, while water and mineral salts enter through the root system. Substances can move into the root in several ways, with the principal method being osmosis.
During osmosis free-water molecules pass from the soil into the epidermal cells, using the root-hair membrane. Looking at this process at the molecular level, we see that the small water molecules pass easily through the selectively permeable membrane of the epidermal cells.
Diffusion of mineral salts occurs at the same time. Facilitated diffusion occurs when important molecules pass through the membranes via special holes called channels.
Active transport of other molecules may also take place in the root hair, depending on the needs of the plant. Active transport requires energy, as the required molecules must be pumped across the membrane against their concentration gradient.
During osmosis free-water molecules pass from the soil into the epidermal cells, using the root-hair membrane. Looking at this process at the molecular level, we see that the small water molecules pass easily through the selectively permeable membrane of the epidermal cells.
Diffusion of mineral salts occurs at the same time. Facilitated diffusion occurs when important molecules pass through the membranes via special holes called channels.
Active transport of other molecules may also take place in the root hair, depending on the needs of the plant. Active transport requires energy, as the required molecules must be pumped across the membrane against their concentration gradient.