maintaining a concentration gradient
What maintaining a concentration gradient means in Biology A-Level, as defined for AQA.
Definition of maintaining a concentration gradient
Check what you remember
Read the wording for your board, then hide it and explain maintaining a concentration gradient in your own words. Rough notes are fine. This is a self-check, with no mark or grade.
Reference: AQA
Keeping the oxygen concentration in the alveolus higher than in the blood arriving in the pulmonary capillaries, and the carbon dioxide concentration lower.
Topics that use maintaining a concentration gradient
- Gas exchange (AQA A-Level)
Related terms
- antagonistic intercostal muscles
- Bronchioles
- Correlation
- counter-current flow
- diffusion at the alveolus
- large surface area
- Lungs
- mesophyll and stomata
Using maintaining a concentration gradient in the exam
Check the command word and mark scheme for your exact question. After comparing your explanation with the reference, use the term in an answer on the linked topic. This practice does not predict an exam mark.
Practise Biology questions
Create a free account to answer exam-style questions on this topic and get feedback on your answers.
A week of Premium from your first lesson · Then the free plan continues · No card, no charge