AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Hence, the salt solution acts as a hypertonic solution when compared to the RBC. Therefore, water will move out of the RBC by osmosis and will result in the shrinking of the RBC (water moves from a hypotonic solution to a hypertonic solution).

Detailed explanation-2: -If a red blood cell (RBC) found itself in a concentrated salt solution, the solute concentration would be higher outside the RBC than inside it. Water would move out of the cell via osmosis, and the cell would become shriveled and dysfunctional.

Detailed explanation-3: -Red blood cells placed in a solution with a lower water concentration compared to their contents (eg 1.7 per cent salt solution) will lose water by osmosis and shrink. Water will diffuse from a higher water concentration inside the cell to a lower water concentration outside the cell.

Detailed explanation-4: -The red blood cells, therefore, lose their normal biconcave shape and shrink or crenate. This collapse leads to a decrease in the packed cell volume, or hematocrit, of the solution in comparison to that of the nonhemolyzed blood, as the cells take up less space due to the rapid loss of water.

Detailed explanation-5: -The red blood cell will lose water and will shrink. This shrinking is termed crenation or plasmolysis. The 2.0% NaCl solution outside the red blood cell is hypertonic (it contains more salt than the red blood cell) to the red blood cell.