AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Vegetable plants transpire water from their leaves, creating suction on the water at the root surface that draws the nutritious surface soil solution toward the plant roots. This process of mass flow caused by leaf transpiration explains how most plant nutrients (98 percent) move from the soil to the root surface.

Detailed explanation-2: -Diffusion is the movement of nutrients to the root surface in response to a concentration gradient.

Detailed explanation-3: -Diffusion: During diffusion, roots grow throughout the profile and use up nutrients directly around the root system and the root hairs. As the concentration of nutrients around the root system drops, nutrients from higher concentrated areas move – or diffuse – toward low concentration areas and toward the roots.

Detailed explanation-4: -Plants absorb water and nutrients through the xylem: a tissue made up of thin tubes located just below the surface of the plant’s stems. The molecules in this tissue attract water molecules from the soil, so that the water is pulled upwards. This process is called capillary action.

Detailed explanation-5: -Plants absorb water from the soil by osmosis. They absorb mineral ions by active transport, against the concentration gradient. Root hair cells are adapted for taking up water and mineral ions by having a large surface area to increase the rate of absorption.