Final answer:
Animal cells burst in hypotonic solutions as they lack a rigid cell wall and cannot contain the influx of water, whereas plant cells have a cell wall that creates turgor pressure preventing them from bursting and making them turgid. In hypertonic solutions, both cell types lose water but animal cells shrink and may die, whereas plant cells undergo plasmolysis without destruction of their cell walls.
Step-by-step explanation:
The reason why animal cells burst in hypotonic solutions while plant cells become turgid is due to differences in their cellular structures. Animal cells lack a rigid cell wall, so in a hypotonic solution where the environment has a lower concentration of solutes compared to the inside of the cell, water rushes into the cell, causing it to swell and eventually lyse, or burst. Conversely, plant cells have a sturdy cell wall that prevents them from bursting. Instead, water entering a plant cell in a hypotonic solution will cause the cell to swell until turgor pressure, the pressure of the cell contents against the cell wall, builds up. This pressure counteracts the entry of more water, and the cell becomes turgid, which is a firm and healthy state for plant cells.
In a hypertonic solution, where the surrounding fluid has a higher concentration of solutes, both animal and plant cells lose water. However, while an animal cell shrinks, becomes crenated, and can die, a plant cell undergoes plasmolysis where the cell membrane detaches from the cell wall, but the structure of the cell remains intact, causing the plant to appear wilted. For a cell without a cell wall, the ideal condition is an isotonic environment, where the solute concentrations inside and outside of the cell are equal, so there is no net movement of water. Plant cells, however, tend to thrive in a slightly hypotonic environment due to their cell walls and the resultant turgidity.