Recall what you know about hypertonic, hypotonic, and isotonic solutions. When an environment is hypotonic, what happens to the cell?(1 point)
When an environment is hypotonic, water molecules will move into the cell through osmosis, causing the cell to swell or even burst.
When an environment is hypotonic, it means that the concentration of solutes outside the cell is lower than the concentration inside the cell. In this case, water will flow into the cell through osmosis, causing the cell to swell and potentially burst.
Recall that hypertonic, hypotonic, and isotonic solutions refer to the concentration of solutes (such as salt or sugar) in a solution compared to the concentration of solutes inside a cell.
When an environment is hypotonic, it means that the concentration of solutes outside the cell is lower than the concentration inside the cell. In this case, water molecules tend to move from an area of higher concentration (inside the cell) to an area of lower concentration (outside the cell) through a process called osmosis.
As water moves into the cell, the cell becomes swollen or expands. This is because the cell's internal solute concentration is higher than the external solute concentration, creating a concentration gradient that drives water into the cell. The influx of water increases the pressure inside the cell, causing it to expand.
In extreme cases, if a cell absorbs too much water, it may burst or undergo lysis, leading to cell death. However, many cells have mechanisms to regulate their internal osmotic pressure and prevent excessive water uptake, such as the presence of a cell wall or specialized transport proteins.
Therefore, when an environment is hypotonic, the cell tends to absorb water and may swell or expand.