Question Video: Recalling the Process by Which Plant Roots Absorb Water from the Soil Biology • Second Year of Secondary School

Video Transcript

The diagram given shows the process of transpiration in a plant. By what process do the plant roots absorb water from the soil?

Transpiration is the evaporation of water from the plant tissues. Due to transpiration, water moves upward through the plant from the roots toward the leaves. As the water leaves the roots to move upward, the concentration of water in the roots decreases. This transport of water out of the root and the active transportation of soil minerals into the roots causes the water concentration in the vacuoles of the root cells to be lower than in the surrounding soil. When the concentration of water is lower in the roots than in the surrounding soil, water will naturally move into the roots.

This natural movement of water from an area of higher concentration, the soil, into an area of lower concentration, the root, is called osmosis. So the answer to this question is osmosis. Plant roots absorb water from the soil through osmosis.