Question

An athlete's red blood cells need to maintain their shape during exercise to carry oxygen effectively. If these cells were placed in pure water, what would happen to them?
Question 2 options:

The cells would maintain their normal shape without any changes

The cells would use active transport to pump out excess water automatically

The cells would shrink as water moves out to balance concentrations

The cells would swell and possibly burst as water moves in via osmosis

Answer 1

The cells would swell and possibly burst as water moves in via osmosis.

Explanation: Pure water is hypotonic to the cytoplasm, so water enters the red blood cells. Without a rigid cell wall (and limited active pumping capacity), they swell and can lyse (hemolyze).