Question

state one reason why a glucose molecule is more likely than a sucrose molecule to diffuse through an artificial membrane

Answer 1

Answer:

A glucose molecule is smaller  

Explanation:

An artificial membrane has pores of a specific size.

Molecules that are small enough can pass through the pores, but others may be too big.

Glucose (C₆H₁₂O₆) has a certain size, but a sucrose molecule (C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁) is bigger.

If the membrane pores are just the right size, a glucose molecule will be able to pass through, but a sucrose molecule won't.

Answer 2

Answer & explanation:

The main difference between glucose and sucrose is their molecular structure classification, glucose (C₆H₁₂O₆) is a monosaccharide, while sucrose (C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁) is a disaccharide, formed by one glucose molecule and one fructose molecule.

This fact implies not only the molecular structure but also in the size of the molecules, so a sucrose molecule is much larger than a glucose molecule (just look at the number of atoms in each).

Artificial membranes have some difficulty in allowing large molecules to pass through, so being smaller, glucose is more likely to undergo the diffusion process on an artificial membrane than sucrose.