Question

1. A red blood cell is placed into an environment containing 30% sucrose solution.

1. Is the environment hypertonic, hypotonic, or isotonic relative to the interior of the cell?
2. Describe the direction of osmosis (where does the water move?).

Answer 1

A solution that maintains the balance and stability of the osmotic pressure within the cytoplasm is known as an isotonic solution.

A solution that diluted more in contrast with the cytoplasm is known as a hypotonic solution.

A solution that has more salt concentration in contrast to the cytoplasm is known as a hypertonic solution.

The cells shrink when put in a hypertonic solution and swell when put in a hypotonic solution. The cells do not undergo any change when put in an isotonic solution.

Therefore, the cell will undergo crenation/plasmolysis (cell will shrink) because the movement of the water is outwards the cell (RBCs) as sucrose is an effective osmole and the environment is hypertonic.