Question

Recall what you know about hypertonic hypotonic and isotonic solutions when an environment is hypotonic what happens to the cell

Answer 1

When the external environment is hypotonic, it means that the concentration of solutes in the environment is lower than the concentration of solutes inside the cell. In this situation, water will move into the cell through the process of osmosis.

As a result, the cell will absorb water and may expand or swell. This can lead to the cell bursting or undergoing lysis if it does not have any mechanism to maintain its structural integrity.

However, some cells have adaptations to counteract the influx of water. For example, plant cells have a rigid cell wall that prevents excessive water uptake and maintains the shape of the cell. Animal cells, on the other hand, rely on active transport mechanisms to pump out excess water and maintain cell volume.

Overall, in a hypotonic environment, a cell may absorb water and possibly undergo changes in its shape or size, depending on its structural adaptations.