Question

In the lab, you use a special balloon that is permeable to water but not sucrose to make an "artificial cell." The balloon is filled with a solution of 20% sucrose and 80% water and is immersed in a beaker containing a solution of 40% sucrose and 60% water. Which of the following will occur?

Answer 1

The water in the balloon will be transferred to the beaker solution.

Step-by-step explanation:

Osmosis is a physical phenomenon related to the movement of a solvent through a semipermeable membrane. Such behavior involves a simple diffusion through the membrane.

Water molecules pass through the semipermeable membrane from the solution with the lowest concentration, hypotonic solution, to the one with the highest concentration, hypertonic solution. When the water transfer equals the two concentrations, the solutions are called isotonic.

In this case, the solution in the balloon is hypotonic and the solution in the beaker is hypertonic.

Thus, the water in the balloon will be transferred to the beaker's medium.