Does Facilitated Diffusion Require Energy: Why, How And Detailed Insights

Facilitated diffusion is not an energy consuming process as it a passive transport of the molecules or ions.

Facilitated diffusion is a passive transport which does not require cell energy for transportation of molecules or ions. In this section we shall discuss does facilitated diffusion require energy or not.

Why does facilitated diffusion not require energy?

The facilitated diffusion does not require energy while transporting the molecules or ions through the cell membrane.

The facilitated diffusion does not need energy during transportation of molecules through the cell membrane because the molecules are transported from high concentration gradient to low concentration gradient.

Why does facilitated diffusion via glut proteins require no metabolic energy?

The transportation of glucose molecule needs GLUT proteins and does not need metabolic energy in the form of ATP molecules.

The metabolic energy is not required by glut proteins while transporting the glucose molecules via facilitated diffusion as they transfer the glucose molecules from high to low concentration gradient in cell.

In facilitated diffusion of glucose molecule the carrier proteins attach to the glucose molecule and modify the shape to transfer glucose molecules across the cell membrane. Because the glucose molecule is big in size and it is a polar molecule it cannot travel easily through the cell membrane.

There two types of glucose transporters in a cell. Namely they are Sodium linked glucose transporter and facilitated diffuson glucose tranporter (GLUT). Glut proteins are specific uniporter transporters especially found in mammalian cells. They are specifically coded by the genes and coding is varied from person to person. These are special feature of beta cells of pancreas. There are different types of glut proteins present in a cell.

does facilitated diffusion require energy
Image Credit: Glut protein Wikipedia

Why does active transport require energy when facilitated diffusion does not?

The energy is required in active transport because the molecules are transported against their concentration gradient whereas energy is not required in facilitated diffusion as the molecules are transported from high concentration gradient.

The cell energy is consumed in active transport as it enables the transport of molecules against their concentration gradient. The facilitated diffusion does not consume energy as it enables the transfer of molecules from high to low concentration gradient.

The active transport consumes cell energy in the form of ATP molecules during transportation of molecules or ions. In active transport the carrier proteins play a vital role in transportation of glucose molecules or sodium ions.

In facilitated diffusion the channel proteins plays a pivotal role for transportation of molecules or ions. The channel proteins are the special membrane proteins which are embedded in the cell membrane.

Is facilitated diffusion active or passive transport?

The facilitated diffusion is said to be passive transport as it does not require energy during transportation.

The facilitated diffusion is popularly known as passive transport because it does not consume cell energy while transporting molecules or ions.

Active transport consumes cell energy for the transportation of molecules or ions. Active transport occurs in two steps, namely they are primary active transport and secondary active transport.

Passive transport does not consume cell energy while transporting the molecules or ions. It is carried out by the channel proteins.

Read More On: Molecules Active Transport Examples: With Explanations

Frequently Asked Questions

What is facilitated diffusion in membrane?

The facilitated diffusion is generally a passive transport means that it does not consume cell energy.

In membrane only the selective molecules or ions are transported in course of their concentration gradient. This is a passive process i.e. cell energy is not consumed during transportation.

What are the factors involve in facilitated diffusion?

In facilitated diffusion process factors involved are namely temperature, concentration, diffusion, distance, size of the molecules, selectivity and saturation.

Do carrier proteins involve in facilitated diffusion?

Carrier proteins do involve in facilitated diffusion. They can also participate in active transport.

Carrier proteins usually participate in facilitated diffusion process whereas they involve in active transportation of molecules too.

Name a few examples of facilitated diffusion process?

Glucose transportation, gas transportation, ion transportation are the basic examples of facilitated diffusion.

Glucose transportation:

Glucose is transported in the cell by glucose transporters along the concentration gradient.

Gas transportation:

Oxygen is mainly transported in red blood cells and muscles.

Haemoglobin acts as a carrier protein in blood where as myoglobin acts as a carrier protein in muscles.

Ion transportation:

The ions like sodium, potassium, calcium are transported by specific ion transporters.  

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