Question

The absorption of glucose into the cell leads to the movement of water into the cell. Explain how

Answer 1

Glucose absorption into cells via active transport raises the solute concentration within the cell, causing water to move into the cell via osmosis to balance the concentration gradient.

Step-by-step explanation:

The absorption of glucose into the cell leads to the movement of water into the cell through a process known as osmosis, which is the movement of water across a semipermeable membrane from an area of lower solute concentration to an area of higher solute concentration. When glucose is absorbed into the cell via active transport, it increases the solute concentration inside the cell.

Water then follows the glucose into the cell to balance the concentration gradient between the inside of the cell and the surrounding fluid. An example is in the small intestine or the proximal convoluted tubule (PCT) of the kidney, where the coupling of Na+ ions and glucose absorption actively transports them into the cell, leading to a subsequent osmotic movement of water.

Answer 2

When glucose is taken into the cell, the fluids or solutions in the cell become more concentrated (due to the absorbed glucose) than the fluids outside the cell. When this happens, a natural process called osmosis takes place .

Osmosis is defined as the movement of molecules of a solvent (in this case water) through a semi-permeable membrane (in this case the cell membrane) from a less concentrated solution to a more concentrated one in a bid to to equalize the concentration on both sides of the membrane.

Water will therefore leave the less concentrated solution outside the cell, pass through the cell membrane and into the more concentrated solution.