Cells swell when placed in what environment???

Question

Cells swell when placed in what environment???

Answer 1

Water travels in and out of the cell, through the cell membrane via a process called osmosis. Osmosis is a specialised form of diffusion by which water travels from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration through a semi-permeable membrane. If the concentration of water outside the cell is higher than that within the cell, water will flow into the cell, thus causing it to swell. If the opposite is true, water will exit the cell and the cell will shrivel.

Cells contain mostly water but also contain other substances. Therefore, if the environment outside the cell is pure fresh water, the concentration of water outside the cell will always be higher than inside and, as ststed above, water will enter the cell causing it to swell.

So, if this is the case, the answer I would give is that cells swell when placed in a pure water environment.

Hope this helps.

TV

Answer 2

In an aqueous solution that has a lower osmotic pressure than the inside of the cell. This is because water will enter the cell by osmosis.