7. Normal RBCs are placed in a hypotonic solution. Which of the following will t

Question

7. Normal RBCs are placed in a hypotonic solution. Which of the following will take place within the first 5 minutes? Circle all correct answers within the pairs. there must be an answer for each letter. one or the other. The RBCs will...

a) gain water by the process of diffusion - or - gain water by the process of osmosis

b) lose water by the process of diffusion - or - lose water by the process of osmosis

c) gain salt by the process of diffusion - or - gain salt by the process of osmosis

d) lose salt by the process of diffusion - or - lose salt by the process of osmosis

e) neither gain nor lose salt or water (the amounts of each will remain the same)

9. When necessary, the cell will break down glycogen into glucose molecules which can then be metabolized to produce chemical energy in the form of ATP. Liver and muscle cells must use energy to produce and store the glycogen, which then must be broken down into glucose for ATP production. It would seem to be more energy efficient for liver and muscle cells to store large quantities of glucose instead of glycogen; but they don't. Explain why not. Think about the transport processes being discussed in this exercise.

Explanation / Answer

When RBCs are placed in hypotonic solution,which has lower solute concentration than the cells,water moves into the cells by the process of osmosis causing the cells to swell eventualy bursting the cell.

Liver and Muscle cells do not store large quantities of glucose because,glucose is a soluble substance when the body stores in the form of glucose,they affect the water concentration inside the cells,there by increasing the osmotic effect on cells, because of which cells will swell up.

Glycogen is insoluble and will not upset the osmotic pressure.More over the controlled breakdown of glycogen and release of glucose increases the amount of glucose that is available between meals,hence glycogen serves as buffer to maintain blood glucose level.Coversion of glucose to glycogen is energy efficent.

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