Water Movement & Cells
- The direction of the net movement of water will depend on whether a cell is placed in a hypertonic or hypotonic solution
- In a hypertonic solution there will be a net movement of water out of the cell, as the cytoplasm is more dilute than the outside solution
- In a hypotonic solution there will be a net movement of water into the cell because now the outside solution is more dilute than the cytoplasm
- In an isotonic solution, the movement of water into the cell will be balanced out by the movement of water out of the cell
- There will therefore be no net movement of water into or out of the cell
- The cell is now in dynamic equilibrium with the isotonic solution
- It is especially important for animal cells to maintain their osmotic concentration as any deviation from this equilibrium may either cause the cell to shrink or burst