A primitive type of cell consists of a membrane and a few other cell organelles. This first kind of cell lives in a sea that contains three major kinds of molecules with the following characteristics:

With this information and your background in cell structure and function, osmosis, diffusion, and active transport, decide whether this kind of cell will continue to live in this sea, and explain why or why not.

Can you define osmosis, diffusion, and active transport? Can you list the components of a generalized eukaryotic cell? Look at each molecule (X, Y & Z) and make a table that includes which types of membrane transport might in operation. What feature of the cell membrane would make each of these possible? Why might physical size be a problem? What other feature of each molecule might also need to be known to determine if this primitive cell will survive?