When an environment is hypotonic, what happens to the cell?
When an environment is hypotonic, meaning it has a lower solute concentration compared to the cell, water molecules tend to move into the cell through osmosis. This osmotic movement leads to the swelling or expansion of the cell as water enters it. If too much water enters the cell, it may burst or undergo lysis, especially if it lacks a strong cell wall.
When an environment is hypotonic, the solution surrounding the cell has a lower concentration of solutes compared to the cytoplasm of the cell. As a result, water molecules diffuse into the cell through the cell membrane. This influx of water can cause the cell to swell and potentially burst, a process called osmotic lysis.
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 scenario, water molecules tend to move into the cell in an attempt to equalize the concentrations on both sides of the cell membrane.
As a result, the cell will gain water and may swell or even burst (a process known as lysis) if there are no mechanisms to prevent excessive uptake of water. This is because the water moves from an area of low solute concentration (outside the cell) to high solute concentration (inside the cell) to balance the concentrations.
To understand this concept, you need to grasp the idea of osmosis, which is the movement of water across a semi-permeable membrane from an area of low solute concentration to an area of high solute concentration. By understanding the concentration gradient and the direction of water movement, you can determine the effect of a hypotonic environment on a cell.