1.5.6

Water Transport in Plants

Test yourself

Water Pathway

Water moves into the plant in the roots, then moves up through the plant:

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Root hair cell

  • First, water osmoses into root hair cells.
  • These are specialised cells on roots that have projections, creating a large surface area for osmosis.
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Root cortex cells

  • Water then moves into the root cortex cells.
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Xylem vessels

  • Xylem vessels collect water from the root cortex and transport it up the plant's stem.
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Mesophyll cells

  • When it reaches a leaf, water osmoses out of the xylem into the leaf's mesophyll cells.
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Investigating the pathway

  • By putting a wilting celery stalk in water that contains a stain such as blue food dye, it is possible to watch the blue water travelling up the celery stem and to the leaves.

Jump to other topics

1Biology

1.1Cells, Tissues & Organs

1.2Reproduction & Variation

1.3Ecological Relationships & Classification

1.4Digestion & Nutrition

1.5Plants & Photosynthesis

1.6Biological Systems & Processes

2Chemistry

2.1Particles

2.2Chemical Reactions

2.3Atoms, Elements, Compounds

2.4The Periodic Table

2.5Materials & the Earth

2.6Reactivity

2.7Energetics

2.8Properties of Materials

3Physics

3.1Energy

3.2Forces & Motion

3.3Waves

3.4Electricity & Magnetism

3.5Matter

3.6Space Physics

4Thinking Scientifically

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