Primary Active Transport

Definition

Primary active transport directly uses energy from ATP to move substances across a cell membrane against their concentration gradient.

Related terms

Secondary Active Transport:

This is like an escalator powered by the movement of another, where one substance moves down its concentration gradient, providing energy for another substance to move against its gradient.

Transport Protein:

These are like the actual steps on our escalator, physically moving substances across the cell membrane.

Concentration Gradient:

This refers to the difference in concentration of a substance across a space or membrane. In our analogy, it's similar to how more people would naturally be at the bottom of our escalator than at the top if there was no power.