The movement of glucose into the cell, against its concentration gradient, can be powered by the co-transport of Na+ into the cell. Explain this movement with respect to the net entropy of the system (that is, thermodynamics)
What will be an ideal response?
The movement of Na+ ions from an area that has a high Na+ concentration to a new area of low Na+ concentration is energetically favorable because the net entropy in the system is increasing. As long as the difference in Na+ ion concentration across the membrane is large, the entropic factor will be sufficient to drive the import of glucose into the cell, which represents a decrease in entropy with respect to the population of glucose molecules inside the cell.
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