Question

Red blood cells placed in a 0.5% saline solution will swell and burst open so 0.5% saline is said to be a. hyperosmotic O b. hypoosmotic O c.hypotonic d. isoosmotic e. hypertonic Of Isotonic

Answer 1

Answer: Hypotonic.

Explanation: Water will travel to the side of a membrane with less water. So if the cell swells and bursts, you can assume there was more water outside than inside. Since this is true, there must be more salt molecules within the cell than there are outside the cell. Since there is less salt outside, the outside solution is Hypotonic (hypo-less).