Concept explainers
To determine:
What happens when a cell is placed in a hypotonic solution and when it is placed in hypertonic solution?
Concept introduction:
Osmosis refers to movement of water from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration across a selectively permeable membrane. In terms of solute, it can be defined as movement of water from a region of low solute concentration to a region of higher solute concentration.
Explanation of Solution
When a cell is placed in a hypotonic solution, then water moves into the cell and the cell swells because the concentration of solute is higher inside the cell as compared to that of the extracellular fluid. The water moves from a region of lower solute concentration to the region of higher solute concentration by a process called osmosis.
On the other hand, when a cell is placed in hypertonic solution, then water moves out of the cell and the cell shrinks because there is higher solute concentration in the extracellular solution as compared to that inside the cell. The water here moves from a region of low solute concentration (cell) to a region of high solute concentration (extracellular fluid) by osmosis.
The movement of water by osmosis depends on the concentration of solute across the membrane.
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