If the concentration of NaCl inside the plant cell is 0.25 M, which way will the water diffuse if the cell is placed inside the 0.20 M NaCl solution? Explain your answer.
Water will diffuse out of the plant cell and into the 0.20 M NaCl solution. This is because water tends to move from an area of higher water concentration (lower solute concentration) to an area of lower water concentration (higher solute concentration) in order to establish equilibrium.
In this case, the concentration of NaCl inside the plant cell is higher (0.25 M) compared to the concentration of NaCl in the surrounding solution (0.20 M). This means that the water concentration is lower inside the cell compared to outside. As a result, water molecules will move out of the cell in an attempt to equalize the concentrations of water and NaCl on both sides of the cell membrane. This process is known as osmosis.