Question

Analyze how osmosis affects the size of the cell when placed in either an isotonic, hypotonic or hypertonic solution.

Answer 1

Explanation:

Osmosis is defined as the movement of water from a LOW concentration of solute to a HIGH concentration of solute.

Isotonic means that both the solution (environment of the cell) and the inside of the cell have equal concentrations. Now, it is important to know that even though they may have similar concentrations, there may be different solutes inside or outside of the cell.

Hypertonic is when one solution (either the inside of the cell or the outside) has a higher concentration of a certain solute

Hypotonic is the solution that has the less concentration of a certain solute.

If the inside of the cell has more solute than the outside, then the water will move inside the cell, make it bigger, and eventually make it burst.

If the outside of the cell has a higher concentration of a solute, the water inside the cell will move out of the cell and go to the environment. This will cause the cell to shrink in size.

If both the outside and inside of the cell have the same solutes at the same concentration, then the two are said to be isotonic, and the cell will keep its normal shape.