What will happen when deionized water is added to red blood cells and then left to sit for 15 minutes? Will the blood cells mix with the water immediately and make a paler solution or will they be more dense than the water and sink to the bottom?
When deionized water is added to red blood cells and left to sit for 15 minutes, the following steps occur:
1. Initially, when deionized water is added to red blood cells, a process known as hemolysis takes place. Hemolysis is the rupture or destruction of red blood cells, resulting in the release of their contents. Deionized water is hypotonic to red blood cells, meaning it has a lower solute concentration than the cells.
2. As a hypotonic solution, deionized water enters the red blood cells through osmosis. Osmosis is the diffusion of water molecules across a semi-permeable membrane from an area of lower solute concentration (outside the cells) to an area of higher solute concentration (inside the cells).
3. The entry of water into the red blood cells causes them to swell and eventually burst, releasing their contents into the surrounding water. This leads to the dispersion of the intracellular components such as hemoglobin.
4. Over the course of 15 minutes, the red blood cells will continue to hemolyze, and the released hemoglobin will mix with the deionized water, resulting in a paler solution. The solution will turn from red to a lighter pink color as more cells rupture and release their hemoglobin.
5. Since the red blood cells are rupturing and dispersing their contents, they will not remain intact as separate entities. They will mix with the water, forming a homogenous solution where individual cells are no longer identifiable.
To summarize, when deionized water is added to red blood cells and left to sit for 15 minutes, the cells will undergo hemolysis, leading to the rupture and release of intracellular components such as hemoglobin. This will result in a paler solution as the released hemoglobin mixes with the water. The red blood cells will not sink to the bottom but rather disperse and mix with the water, forming a homogenous solution.
When deionized water is added to red blood cells and left to sit for 15 minutes, the red blood cells will undergo a process known as hemolysis. Hemolysis occurs when the water enters the red blood cells, causing them to swell and eventually burst.
To understand why this happens, we need to consider the concept of osmosis. Osmosis is the movement of solvent molecules, in this case, water, from an area of lower solute concentration to an area of higher solute concentration through a semipermeable membrane, such as the cell membrane of red blood cells.
In the case of red blood cells, they contain a higher concentration of solutes, such as ions and proteins, compared to deionized water. As a result, when deionized water is added to the red blood cells, water molecules will move from an area of lower solute concentration (the water) to an area of higher solute concentration (inside the red blood cells) in an attempt to equalize the concentration on both sides of the membrane.
As the water molecules move into the red blood cells, they cause the cells to swell, leading to their eventual rupture. This process is hemolysis. Consequently, the red pigment called hemoglobin, which gives red blood cells their characteristic color, will be released into the surrounding water.
So, to answer your question, when deionized water is added to red blood cells and left to sit for 15 minutes, the blood cells will undergo hemolysis, resulting in the release of hemoglobin into the water. The solution will turn paler due to the dispersion of red blood cell contents, and the red blood cells themselves will eventually disintegrate.