A plant cell and a red blood cell are both placed in pure water.
Contributed by StemPy LabTry it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
A plant cell and a red blood cell are both placed in pure water. The red blood cell bursts, but the plant cell does not. Explain why.
Need a reminder? The key ideaShow
Osmosis is the movement of water through a selectively permeable membrane towards the side with more dissolved substance. Hypotonic: the cell swells. Isotonic: no change. Hypertonic: the cell shrinks.
The worked solution
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
Step 1. Water goes in. Pure water is hypotonic to both cells, so both take in water by osmosis.
Step 2. The red blood cell. It has no wall, so it swells until its membrane breaks.
Step 3. The plant cell. Its strong cell wall stops it from swelling too far. It becomes firm, or turgid.
Answer: the plant cell's wall holds it; the red blood cell has no wall.
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