Question

Cells a and b are the same size and shape, but cell a is metabolically quiet and cell b is actively consuming oxygen. Oxygen will diffuse more quickly into cell ___________ because _______.

Answer 1

The two cells of the similar shape, and size have different levels of the ongoing metabolic activity. On one hand, the cell a is metabolically quiet, which means that no energy consuming chemical reactions are taking place in this cell. On the other hand, the cell b is actively consuming the surrounding oxygen. In this scenario, the oxygen will more quickly diffuse into the cell b because the diffusion gradient for oxygen in this cell is steeper than in the cell a.

Hence, the blanks can be filled with 'b and the diffusion gradient is steeper' respectively.