Topic 4.6: Water Potential Questions

A plant cell is placed in a solution that is more dilute than its cytoplasm (a hypotonic solution). What happens to the cell?

State the relationship between the water potential, solute potential and pressure potential of a plant cell.

State the direction in which water moves by osmosis, in terms of water potential.

How do dissolved solutes inside a plant cell affect its water potential?

State the term used to describe a solution that has a higher osmolarity than the cell it surrounds.

What effect does adding more solute to a solution have on its water potential?

Red blood cells placed in a solution are seen to shrink and develop a wrinkled, spiky surface. What is this shrivelled appearance called?

In a plant cell, the water potential (Ψ) is equal to which of the following?

What is osmosis?

What does the osmolarity of a solution measure?

A plant cell sits in a solution that is the same concentration as its cytoplasm (an isotonic solution). What is its state?

A solution has a higher osmolarity than the cell it surrounds. What is this solution described as?

Describe what happens to a cheek cell when it is placed in a concentrated (hypertonic) salt solution.

State the term used for a plant cell that has taken in water and become firm, with its contents pressing hard against the cell wall.

Which term describes a plant cell that has lost so much water that its cytoplasm and membrane have pulled away from the cell wall?

A student is investigating osmosis using solutions of different salt concentrations. Define the term osmolarity, and explain how the osmolarity of a solution determines the direction in which water moves across a partially permeable membrane.

A plant cell is placed in a hypotonic (dilute) solution. What happens to the cell?

What is solvation?

A plasmolysed plant cell is viewed under the microscope. What fills the region between the shrunken cell contents and the cell wall?

A sample of red blood cells is divided and added to two solutions. In solution A the cells swell and then burst; in solution B the cells shrink and their surfaces become wrinkled. Explain, in terms of osmosis and tonicity, what has happened to the cells in each solution.