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When more water moves out of a cell than moves in, the cell will ___.

A) Expand
B) Divide
C) Shrink
D) Contract

User Sugunan
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

When more water exits a cell than enters, the cell will shrink (option c) due to a hypertonic solution causing water to move out to balance solute concentrations, known as crenation in animal cells and plasmolysis in plant cells.

Step-by-step explanation:

When more water moves out of a cell than moves in, the cell will shrink. This is due to the osmotic balance being disrupted in a hypertonic solution, where the external environment has a higher solute concentration than the inside of the cell. As a result, water will move out of the cell to balance the solute concentrations, causing the cell to lose volume and shrink, a process known as crenation in animal cells and plasmolysis in plant cells.

For example, when a red blood cell is placed in seawater, which is hypertonic compared to the cell's cytoplasm, the cell will shrink as water leaves the cell. Similarly, plant cells in a hypertonic solution will undergo plasmolysis, where the cell membrane detaches from the cell wall and the cell shrinks, leading to a loss of turgor pressure. Therefore, please provide the correct option for the question: when more water moves out of a cell than moves in, the cell will shrink (Option C).

User GeoffM
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