AP Biology Lab 2.08-2.09: Tonic Osmoregulation and Transport

Intact cells of two unknown cell types were placed into solutions with different concentrations of NaCl. Type I cells swelled and burst in the solution with the lowest concentration of NaCl. Type II cells swelled but did not burst in the solution with the lowest concentration of NaCl. Which of the following descriptions of cell type I and cell type II are most consistent with the data?

Cell Type 1: Animal Cell surrounded by plasma membrane only Cell Type 2: Plant cell surrounded by a plasma membrane and a cell wall

The salinity of a small inland lake has recently started to increase. Researchers are planning to study the lake over several decades to investigate how freshwater organisms survive significant changes in their natural habitat. Which of the following physiological mechanisms will the researchers most likely observe among the surviving organisms in the lake?

Single-celled organisms will use various mechanisms to counteract the increased flow of water from cells to the environment.

Intravenous (IV) solutions administered to patients are normally isotonic. Which of the following is most likely if an IV of distilled water is administered to a patient?

The cells that are exposed to hypotonic solutions will expand as water moves osmotically into the cells from the blood.

In an experiment, cells were isolated from an aquatic plant and suspended in pond water, a sucrose sugar solution, or distilled water. All of the cells were then viewed under a microscope. Compared with the cell in the pond water, the cell in the sugar solution appeared shriveled, and the cell in the distilled water appeared inflated. The results of the experiment are represented in Figure 1. Which of the following statements best explains the observations represented in Figure 1 ?

There was a net movement of water out of the cell suspended in the sugar solution and a net movement of water into the cell suspended in the distilled water.

A sample of human blood was placed in a test tube containing a physiological saline solution (0.9% sodium chloride). This type of solution is often used intravenously to quickly rehydrate patients. A drop of the blood from the test tube was placed on a slide and red blood cells (RBCs) were observed under a microscope. Three possible outcomes are diagrammed below. Which of the following best predicts which diagrammed microscope view the laboratory worker would see and best explains why?

View 2 because the rate of water movement into the RBCs equals the rate of water movement out of the cells