What are some examples of molecules that can move by diffusion or osmosis?
Osmosis is specifically the diffusion of water molecules across a semi-permeable membrane. Diffusion is the passive/random movement of small molecules/substances from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. Can’t name a molecule off the top of my head for cells specifically, but think of this: When you drop a drop of food coloring into a glass of water, the color moves out eventually until there is an equilibrium (equal amount of it) in the glass of water. This is diffusion. The color diffuses from the higher area of concentration (where it hit the water) to areas of low concentration (the rest of the water) until the concentrations reach equilibrium. Diffusion related to cells is the diffusion of small particles ACROSS the cell membrane, again from areas of lower to areas of higher concentration (ex. inside the cell has higher concentration, outside has lower, so substance diffuses from inside to outside of the cell). Here diffusion is a means of passive transpo
