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B2.1 Membranes and membrane transport

Membranes and membrane transport link bilayer structure, membrane proteins, selective permeability, gradients, and vesicle movement to cellular control; Students connect membrane structure to transport mechanisms across cellular boundaries.

Syllabus
First assessment 2025
Topic
B2.1
Level
HL

What you’ll learn

17 learning objectives

Choose one objective for a focused lesson, or study the complete topic.

Exam analysis

An aggregate view of how the complete B2.1 Membranes and membrane transport appears across past papers.

Chance of appearing37%of analysed past papers
Latest appearanceNovember 2025
Most common paperPaper1

Most tested objectives

  1. B2.1.1—Lipid bilayers as basis7 questions
  2. B2.1.6—Channel proteins7 questions
  3. B2.1.15 (HL)—Sodium-potassium pumps7 questions

Common question formats

  • Structured response
  • Comparison
  • Process explanation
  • Definition or recall
  • Diagram interpretation
  • Graph interpretation

Exam question appearances

November 2025Paper2 ["HL"] · TZ33(b)[ 2 ]B2.1.3—Simple diffusion
November 2025Paper1A ["HL"] · TZ315[ 1 ]B2.1.11 (HL)—Fatty acid composition and fluidity
November 2025Paper1A ["HL"] · TZ115[ 1 ]B2.1.14 (HL)—Gated ion channels in neurons
May 2025Paper2 ["HL"] · TZ23(e)[ 1 ]B2.1.11 (HL)—Fatty acid composition and fluidity
May 2025Paper2 ["HL"] · TZ23(d)[ 1 ]B2.1.12 (HL)—Cholesterol and fluidity
Practice this topic

3 original exam-style questions based on the patterns above.

Coverage 2013–2025 · Updated 15 Jul 2026

Study checklistB2.1 Membranes and membrane transport