AP BIOLOGY

LABORATORY REVIEW

DIFFUSION AND OSMOSIS

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
A cell was placed in corn syrup, 24hrs later the cell shriveled up and it’s mass decreased. Water moved out of the cell, this process is called
A
facilitated diffusion
B
osmosis
C
active transport
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -A cell placed into a hypertonic solution will shrivel and die by a process known as plasmolysis. An isotonic solution is any external solution that has the same solute concentration and water concentration compared to body fluids.

Detailed explanation-2: -If a naked egg is placed in the corn syrup the egg will shrink. This is also due to osmosis, but in the opposite direction. The corn syrup is mostly sugar. It has a lower concentration of water (25% water) than the egg (90% water).

Detailed explanation-3: -If a cell is placed in a hypertonic solution, water will leave the cell, and the cell will shrink. In an isotonic environment, there is no net water movement, so there is no change in the size of the cell. When a cell is placed in a hypotonic environment, water will enter the cell, and the cell will swell.

Detailed explanation-4: -When placed in a hypertonic solution, a cell without a cell wall will lose water to the environment, shrivel, and probably die. In a hypertonic solution, a cell with a cell wall will lose water too. The plasma membrane pulls away from the cell wall as it shrivels, a proces s called plasmolysis.

There is 1 question to complete.