EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -THE SLUG has a moist skin, so when you sprinkle salt on to it a strong brine quickly forms. The process of osmosis then begins, by which water is drawn from a weak solution (in this case the body fluid of the slug) into a stronger one.

Detailed explanation-2: -“Salt essentially draws the water out of their skin – an osmosis effect – and they die within minutes of dehydration, ” says Dr Gordon Port, senior lecturer at Newcastle University. “Slugs and snails are extremely dependent on a high water content in their bodies. They constantly need water to replenish any the lose.

Detailed explanation-3: -The slug shrinks because the salt is hypertonic to the slug’s cells. Therefore, water moves out of the slug and into the environment (salt).

Detailed explanation-4: -The salt on the outside of the slug causes the water from the inside of the cells to move out. The dehydration of the slug causes death. The pouring of salt on the slug will cause the outer surface of the slug to have a higher concentration of solute as the salt will mix with the mucus of the slug.

Detailed explanation-5: -Unfortunately for slugs, their moist skin is far more permeable to water than the skin of most other animals. When salt is placed on them the process of osmosis begins quickly. The large amounts of water inside the slug move to the surface to try and restore equilibrium and dilute the concentration of salt.