Movement into and out of cells — IGCSE Biology (0610) questions by topic
Movement into and out of cells questions identify which features, such as requiring respiration energy or moving against a concentration gradient, define active transport, state which plant structures water crosses on its way to the cytoplasm, interpret a graph of glucose uptake with and without oxygen, and choose which process specifically needs active transport.
Identify, state, describe, calculate and explain span 1 to 20 marks across 57 real questions from 2023 to 2025 papers. Because active transport is so easily confused with diffusion or osmosis in a rushed multiple-choice answer, submitting each response for instant marking flags that specific mix-up before it recurs across several related questions.
May–June 2025, Paper 11
The table shows the concentration of gases in a blood vessel and in an alveolus. Which row shows the conditions that cause a substance produced in respiration in humans to diffuse…
Answer this question and get it marked →The diagram shows four identical pieces of potato plant tissue in test-tubes. The pieces of potato were kept in the test-tubes for six hours. (The diagram shows four test-tubes,…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 12
The diagram represents two liquids separated by a partially permeable membrane. On the left side there are many small circles (water molecules) and on the right side there is a…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 13
Some pieces of potato plant tissue are placed in a very concentrated sugar solution. Other pieces of potato plant tissue are placed in distilled water. What happens to the mass of…
Answer this question and get it marked →Which statement describes the net movement of particles by active transport in animal cells? A from a higher concentration to a lower concentration across a cell membrane B from a…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 21
A student made the following statements about the movement of ions by active transport. 1 It is the net movement of particles from a low concentration to a high concentration. 2…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 22
Which row shows the conditions when diffusion of oxygen into the blood is fastest? alveolar surface area concentration gradient diffusion path distance --- --- --- --- A high high…
Answer this question and get it marked →Uncooked potato cylinders of identical size were placed in four different liquids for two hours. The different liquids are listed. 1 pure water 2 a sugar solution that was less…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 23
What happens when plant cells are placed in a sugar solution that has a lower water potential than the cytoplasm of the cells? A The cells gain water and become flaccid. B The…
Answer this question and get it marked →A potato was removed from a potato plant. A 5 g cube of potato was cut and put into a beaker of distilled water. What is the most likely mass of the cube of potato after two…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 31
A student investigated the effect of immersing cylinders of potato tissue in different concentrations of sucrose solution. The mass of a potato cylinder was measured before…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 32
Complete the sentences about diffusion. Diffusion is the net movement of particles from a region of their ............ concentration to a region of their ............…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 52
You are going to investigate the effect of the concentration of salt solutions on osmosis in potato tissue. You are going to use three different concentrations of salt solution.…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 62
Using the information in Table 1.1, decide the volumes of S and W needed to make 50 cm^3 of a 0.5 mol per dm^3 salt solution. Complete Table 1.1 by writing in the volumes of S and…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 31
A student investigated how surface area affected the rate of diffusion. The student started with four agar cubes that each had a volume of 1 cm³, dyed with a red indicator (which…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 11
Some molecules move through a membrane during osmosis. Which row shows the molecule that moves and the type of membrane? A oxygen; partially permeable B oxygen; permeable C water;…
Answer this question and get it marked →What is a feature of active transport? A It requires energy from respiration. B It involves the random movement of molecules. C Substances are moved down a concentration gradient.…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 12
A frog is an animal. The skin of a frog is permeable to oxygen and carbon dioxide. Which directions will have a net diffusion of oxygen and carbon dioxide when a frog swims in…
Answer this question and get it marked →What is a correct statement about active transport? A Particles move into cells, using energy released by photosynthesis. B Particles move across a cell wall without using energy.…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 13
Which statements about diffusion are correct? 1 Diffusion is the net movement of particles from a higher to a lower concentration. 2 Diffusion is the net movement of particles…
Answer this question and get it marked →What is the name of the process in which water moves through a partially permeable membrane? A active transport B evaporation C osmosis D transpiration
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 21
Cylinders of potato tissue were left in different concentrations of sucrose solution for one hour. The graph shows the percentage change in the length of the potato cylinders…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 22
The diagram shows the water potential of three plant cells (P -360 kPa; Q -400 kPa; R -340 kPa). The more negative the value, the higher the solute concentration. What is the…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 23
The diagram represents a substance moving across a cell membrane, using energy from respiration (against the concentration gradient). Which method of transport does the diagram…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 33
Fig. 1.1 is a diagram showing the diffusion of oxygen molecules across a cell membrane. The arrow shows the direction of the net movement of oxygen molecules through the membrane…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 51
You are going to investigate the movement of water across a membrane by osmosis, using two dialysis tubing bags (one containing sucrose solution, in test-tube S, and one…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 61
Fig. 1.3 shows the student's dialysis tubing bags from test-tubes S and W at 0 minutes and 15 minutes (four bags drawn, each with a meniscus level). Measure the distance from the…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 11
The diagram shows a test-tube containing clear jelly. A drop of blue ink is injected into the middle of the jelly. The blue colour of the ink spreads throughout the jelly. By…
Answer this question and get it marked →The diagram shows some of the apparatus used in an osmosis investigation: a dialysis tubing bag containing sucrose solution immersed in distilled water. In this investigation a…
Answer this question and get it marked →Which row describes active transport of ions? Columns: direction of movement of ions; requires energy from respiration. A from high concentration to low concentration; yes B from…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 12
Which statements are correct for both diffusion and osmosis? Columns: involves movement of water only; requires energy from respiration; molecules move from higher concentration…
Answer this question and get it marked →The concentration of sodium ions in the soil is lower than the concentration inside root hair cells. Which process will be used when sodium ions are taken into root hair cells…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 13
By which process does oxygen pass out of a leaf? A diffusion B osmosis C egestion D transpiration
Answer this question and get it marked →A tuber from a potato plant was cut into pieces of identical length. The pieces of potato were placed in four different solutions for three hours. 1 pure water 2 a sugar solution…
Answer this question and get it marked →Which row shows the features of active transport? Columns: requires energy from respiration; movement against a concentration gradient; movement of water molecules only (key: ✓ =…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 21
The diagram shows an experiment demonstrating osmosis using a dialysis tubing bag containing sugar solution, connected to a glass tube and placed in water. After 30 minutes, the…
Answer this question and get it marked →The diagram shows the movement of glucose molecules across a cell membrane from a low concentration to a high concentration, using energy and a membrane molecule T. Which…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 22
The diagram shows a root hair cell. When does water enter the cell by osmosis? A when the concentration of solutes outside the cell is greater than inside the cell B when the…
Answer this question and get it marked →Which row shows the changes that occur during the germination of a seed? Columns: respiration rate; amount of energy required; how ions are absorbed. A decreased; decreased;…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 23
When a plant cell is put into pure water it ...1... water by osmosis and becomes ...2... . Which words should be used to fill gaps 1 and 2 to complete the sentence? Columns: 1; 2.…
Answer this question and get it marked →The graph shows the results of an investigation into the effect of oxygen on the uptake of glucose by cells, comparing 'with oxygen' and 'no oxygen' over time. Glucose uptake is…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 41
A student investigated osmosis in potato plant cells by immersing cubes of potato tissue in water and different concentrations of sucrose solution for 30 minutes, measuring mass…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 43
The movement of molecules within an organism can occur by diffusion and active transport. Complete Table 1.1 by placing ticks to show the correct features of each process…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 11
The diagrams show how a cell appears under the microscope at the start of an experiment and after it has been placed in a dilute solution of salts for 5 minutes (the cell becomes…
Answer this question and get it marked →What causes the diffusion of oxygen into a plant cell? A active transport B movement of molecules C osmosis D photosynthesis
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 12
The diagram shows an experiment to investigate osmosis in living cells: a hollowed potato containing concentrated sugar solution sits in a glass dish of water. What happens to the…
Answer this question and get it marked →Which process causes oxygen to pass from an alveolus in the lung into a blood capillary? A assimilation B diffusion C excretion D osmosis
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 13
Which diagram shows the appearance of a plant cell after it is placed in pure water? Each option A–D shows a plant cell in a different state. The correct one (D) shows a turgid…
Answer this question and get it marked →What would lead to a decrease in diffusion rate into a cell? A greater concentration gradient B higher temperature C larger surface area of cell D thicker cell wall
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 21
The diagrams show how a cell appears under the microscope at the start of an experiment and after it has been placed in a dilute solution of salts for 5 minutes (the cell becomes…
Answer this question and get it marked →The concentration of nitrate ions is higher inside a root hair cell than in the soil. What would be required for the absorption of nitrate ions into the root hair cell? 1…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 22
The diagram shows an experiment to investigate osmosis in living cells: a hollowed potato containing concentrated sugar solution sits in a glass dish of water. What happens to the…
Answer this question and get it marked →Which statements about active transport are correct? 1 It transports particles from a low concentration to a high concentration. 2 It always transports particles into cells. 3 It…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 23
Which diagram shows the appearance of a plant cell after it is placed in pure water? Each option A–D shows a plant cell in a different state. The correct one shows a turgid cell…
Answer this question and get it marked →Which process requires active transport? A oxygen movement from the alveoli to the blood B ion uptake by root hair cells from the soil C water movement through a plant by…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 31
Complete the sentences about movement into and out of cells. Diffusion is the net movement of particles down a concentration gradient. The energy for diffusion comes from the…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 33
Water moves into and out of cells by osmosis. State two plant cell structures that water moves through to reach the cytoplasm.
Answer this question and get it marked →Other IGCSE Biology topics
- Organisms and their environment (126)
- Human nutrition (95)
- Characteristics and classification of living organisms (84)
- Coordination and response (83)
- Reproduction (82)
- Inheritance (74)
- Organisation of the organism (cells) (64)
- Plant nutrition (62)
- Transport in animals (62)
- Transport in plants (59)
- Variation and selection (50)
- Respiration (48)