Question

Red blood cells do not have cell walls, but they do have semipermeable cell membranes. If red blood cells are placed in distilled water, you would expect them to...
A) increases in size
B) decrease in size
C) increase in size and then burst
D) decrease in size and then burst
E) show no change in size

Answer 1

Answer:

The correct answer is  C) increase in size and then burst

Explanation:

Red blood cells or RBC is isotonic to 0.9% NaCl solution which is called saline solution which is given intravenously to the patients suffering from dehydration or severe accident.

      If RBCs are placed in distilled water the Red blood cell will start to swell as the osmotic pressure of the solute molecules present in the red blood cells is very high than the osmotic pressure of distilled water.

  After a certain period of time when  the volume of red blood cells increases to maximum then the RBCs burst by the entry of excess amount of water into the red blood cells.