Question

What is the role of diffusion in plants and animals?

Answer 1

Hint:Diffusion refers to the process of movement of particles, from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration.

Complete solution:
Let us try to understand how this process of diffusion takes place in plants and animals in detail.
1. Diffusion in animals- Our body is composed of cells, which is referred to as the structural as well as a functional unit of life. The cells present in our body require glucose and oxygen ($O_2$) for carrying out respiration. Both these components are carried in the blood. When blood carrying these components reaches the cells, the molecules of glucose and oxygen diffuse out of the blood and into the cells. After utilizing this glucose and oxygen, cells produce waste chemicals along with carbon dioxide gas ($C{O}_2$). The presence of these waste chemicals and carbon dioxide gas would poison the cell, therefore they diffuse out of the cells into the blood.
2. Diffusion in plants-Like every other living organism, plants also requires food, water, and minerals for their growth and survival. Roots of the plants help in absorbing water and minerals from the soil, which is then used by leaves to prepare the food. The prepared food is then transported to the other parts of the plants. Here, we are talking about transport, this means that there should be some medium of transportation. So, diffusion is the mechanism of transportation, which is followed by plants. Diffusion in plants plays the following important role-
Exchange of gases through stomata pores is possible because of diffusion
Transpiration, i.e., loss of the excess amount of water also works on the principle of diffusion.
The prepared food is transported to different parts by this process.

Note: There are some important factors that affect the rate of diffusion. These can be listed as-
1. The rate of diffusion is directly proportional to the difference in concentration of the molecules in the two regions.
2. The rate of diffusion is directly proportional to the increase in temperature.
3. The rate of diffusion is inversely proportional to the square root of the density of the gas.