When a solution is more concentrated outside of a cell than the cytoplasm, what happens?

A. Water leaves the cell, causing the cell to burst.

B. The solute enters the cell, causing the cell to burst.

C. Water leaves the cell, causing the cell to shrivel up.

D. The solute leaves the cell, causing the cell to shrivel up.

Question

Raphael Ferguson

Biology

3 September, 21:38

When a solution is more concentrated outside of a cell than the cytoplasm, what happens?

A. Water leaves the cell, causing the cell to burst.

B. The solute enters the cell, causing the cell to burst.

C. Water leaves the cell, causing the cell to shrivel up.

D. The solute leaves the cell, causing the cell to shrivel up.

+5

Answers (1)

Know the Answer?

Jacob Sloan · Answer 1

C. Water leaves the cell, causing the cell to shrivel up.

Explanation:

When a cell is placed in a hypertonic solution which has more solute concentration than the cytoplasm, water from the cell leaves towards the outer solution to balance the concentration.

Movement of water from the cell to the outer solution is called exosmosis. The loss of water from the cytoplasm makes the cell to shrink.