Biology / AS level
Transport in plants: water and assimilates
Water evaporating from mesophyll surfaces lowers leaf water potential.
Learning objectives
- Explain cohesion–tension in xylem.
- Connect transpiration with water-potential gradients.
- Explain source-to-sink translocation.
The big idea
Water evaporating from mesophyll surfaces lowers leaf water potential. Cohesion among water molecules supports transmission of tension through continuous xylem columns, while roots absorb water along water-potential gradients.
Phloem transports assimilates through sieve tubes associated with companion cells. Loading at a source and unloading at a sink can establish pressure-driven bulk flow. A storage organ may act as a sink at one time and a source later, so direction is contextual rather than always downward.
Worked example
Water uptake is 0.8 cm³ in 4 minutes. Find uptake rate.
Follow the solution
Divide volume by time: 0.8/4=0.20 cm³ per minute; uptake is a proxy for transpiration.
Investigate and explain
Using the worked example as supplied data, predict the effect of changing one condition. Draw a labelled model, record your reasoning and identify a variable that would need controlling. No human, animal or microbial experiment is required.
No exact PhET model is claimed for this topic. Use diagrams and supplied-data reasoning instead.
Open the interactive investigation
Check your understanding
1. What helps hold a continuous xylem water column together?
- Contraction of xylem muscle
- Cohesion between water molecules
- Pumping by red blood cells
Check the answer and reasoning
Cohesion between water molecules
Hydrogen bonding contributes to cohesion within the transpiration stream.
2. Water uptake is 0.8 cm³ in 4 minutes. Find uptake rate.
- 3.2 cm³/min
- 5 cm³/min
- 0.20 cm³/min
Check the answer and reasoning
0.20 cm³/min
Divide volume by time: 0.8/4=0.20 cm³ per minute; uptake is a proxy for transpiration.
3. Is a developing fruit normally a source of imported sucrose?
- No, it is commonly a sink
- Yes, always
- It cannot receive sucrose
Check the answer and reasoning
No, it is commonly a sink
A developing fruit consumes or stores imported assimilates and is therefore a sink in that context.