Explain how water moves from the soil into the plant

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Explain how water moves from the soil to the leaves. List and explain environmental factors affect the rate of transpiration. Firstly, the water is absorbed by the younger part of the roots. Root hairs form the piliferous region of the root (just behind the growing tip of a young root) and increase the surface area over which water absorption takes place. The water in the soil is taken into the root hairs by the process of osmosis, using the higher concentration outside of the root than within the root hair cells. Now, the water is transferred to the xylem. The xylem
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is located in a central column of the root. As there is a water concentration gradient within the root, the water can after having entered the root via the root hairs continue across the cortex to the endodermis of the xylem by osmosis. In the endoderm cells, the water is forced to move through the cytoplasm. Root pressure occurs, the gradient of water concentration that is present across the cortex. Root pressure often requires energy, as metabolic poisons halt the process. Root pressure also helps the water to move upwards in small plants, but is not strong enough to move ...

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