preview

The Structure Of The Phospholipid Bilayer Essay

Good Essays

Introduction: Breaking down an organism leads scientists to identify cells. A group of cells create tissues, tissues combined are organs, and organs and their functions make up systems. Basically, cells make up living organisms. There are 2 kinds of cells: Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic. Within a prokaryotic, it doesn’t contain a DNA bounded nucleus; however, a eukaryotic cell does. Though the prokaryotic cell differs from a eukaryotic cell, they share a cell membrane. The cell membrane is composed of a phospholipid bilayer and proteins, which makes it selectively permeable. It is located outside of the cytoplasm and controls the movement of substances in and out of the cell. Its basic function is to protect the cell from its surroundings by selecting what can enter and exit the cell. The structure of the phospholipid bilayer is a 2-layer arrangement. Basically, the phospholipid bilayer has 2 ends. One end is hydrophilic (attracted to water); therefore, the opposite end is hydrophobic and repels water. The hydrophilic ends face outwards and the hydrophobic ends face inwards. This experiment enables researchers to investigate how the cell membrane selectively chooses what cells to enter the cell through osmosis and diffusion. Within osmosis, it’s a process of what substance passes and exits the semipermeable membrane into a higher concentration to equal the outside and the inside. Unlike osmosis, diffusion is the movement of molecules transporting from a high concentration to

Get Access