hypotonic

Examples of hypotonic in the following topics:

• Tonicity

  • Three terms—hypotonic, isotonic, and hypertonic—are used to relate the osmolarity of a cell to the osmolarity of the extracellular fluid that contains the cells .
  • In a hypotonic situation, the extracellular fluid has lower osmolarity than the fluid inside the cell, and water enters the cell.
  • Blood cells and plant cells in hypertonic, isotonic, and hypotonic solutions take on characteristic appearances.
  • Cells in a hypotonic solution swell as water enters the cell, and may burst if the concentration gradient is large enough between the inside and outside of the cell.
  • Osmotic pressure changes the shape of red blood cells in hypertonic, isotonic, and hypotonic solutions.

• Osmoregulation

  • There are three types of tonicity: hypotonic, hypertonic, and isotonic.
  • In a hypotonic environment, water enters a cell, and the cell swells.
  • Some organisms, such as plants, fungi, bacteria, and some protists, have cell walls that surround the plasma membrane and prevent cell lysis in a hypotonic solution.
  • In fact, in plants, the cellular environment is always slightly hypotonic to the cytoplasm, and water will always enter a cell if water is available.
  • Freshwater fish live in an environment that is hypotonic to their cells.

• Introduction to Osmoregulation

  • A cell immersed in plain water tends to swell as water diffuses in from the hypotonic or "low salt" solution .
  • Response of red blood cells in hypertonic, hypotonic, and isotonic solutions
  • In a hypotonic environment, cells tend to swell due to intake of water.

• Osmoregulators and Osmoconformers

  • In relatively hypotonic (low osmotic pressure) fresh water, their skin absorbs water (see [a] in ).

• The Plasma Membrane and the Cytoplasm

  • The solution that has the higher concentration of solutes is said to be hypertonic and the solution that has the lower concentration of solutes is said to be hypotonic.
  • Water molecules will diffuse out of the hypotonic solution and into the hypertonic solution (unless acted upon by hydrostatic forces).

• Identification of Chromosomes and Karyotypes

  • Cells are then made to swell using a hypotonic solution so the chromosomes spread apart.