Red blood cells contain 2% salt.What will happen when the cell is placed in a 10% salt solution?
A)The cell will burst.
B)The cell will shrink.
C)The cell will remain unchanged, but salt will diffuse out of the cell.
D)The cell will remain unchanged, but salt will diffuse into the cell.
E)The cell will remain unchanged, but water will diffuse out of the cell.

Question

Red blood cells contain 2% salt.What will happen when the cell is placed in a 10% salt solution?  
A)The cell will burst.
B)The cell will shrink.
C)The cell will remain unchanged, but salt will diffuse out of the cell.
D)The cell will remain unchanged, but salt will diffuse into the cell.
E)The cell will remain unchanged, but water will diffuse out of the cell.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

When a cell is placed in a hypertonic solution (higher concentration of solutes than inside the cell), water will move out of the cell towards the area of higher concentration of solutes, causing the cell to shrink. In this case, the 10% salt solution has a much higher concentration of salt than inside the red blood cells, so water will move out of the cells and the cells will shrink.

Red Blood Cells Contain 2% Salt