A red blood cell is placed in a solution. After a period of time, the cells has shrunk to half its original size. Which of the following is true?
A)Water moved from the solution into the cell.
B)The solution inside the cell is hypertonic.
C)The cell was placed in a hypertonic solution.
D)The cell was placed in an isotonic solution.
E)Salt left the cell resulting in its change in size.

Question

A red blood cell is placed in a solution. After a period of time, the cells has shrunk to half its original size. Which of the following is true? ​
A)Water moved from the solution into the cell.​
B)The solution inside the cell is hypertonic.
C)The cell was placed in a hypertonic solution.
D)The cell was placed in an isotonic solution.
E)Salt left the cell resulting in its change in size.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The fact that the cell has shrunk to half its original size suggests that water has moved out of the cell, indicating that the solution outside the cell was hypertonic to the cell. Therefore, option C is correct. Option A is incorrect because water did not move into the cell. Option B is incorrect because the solution inside the cell would be hypotonic if the cell has shrunk. Option D is also incorrect because if the cell was placed in an isotonic solution, there would be no net movement of water into or out of the cell, resulting in no change in size. Option E is incorrect because there is no mention of salt in the question stem.

A Red Blood Cell Is Placed in a Solution