To determine why more water would enter the shark's cells when it swims from salty ocean water to freshwater in the Potomac River, we need to consider the concepts of tonicity and osmosis.
In the ocean, the shark's cells are adapted to a saline (salty) environment, which means that the concentration of solutes (like salt) inside its cells is higher than in the surrounding seawater. When the shark enters freshwater, the concentration of solutes outside the cells (in the freshwater) is much lower than that inside the shark's cells.
As a result, due to osmosis, water will naturally move from an area of lower solute concentration (the freshwater) to an area of higher solute concentration (inside the shark's cells) to try to achieve equilibrium.
Thus, the correct choice is:
The shark's cells are hypertonic to the freshwater in the Potomac River.
This indicates that the shark's cells have a higher concentration of solutes compared to the freshwater, leading to the net movement of water into the shark's cells.
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