TONICITY

 Distilled water is hypotonic to the cytosol so there will be net movement of water into the
cell. As water moves in the cell water pressure in the cell increases however the cell does
not burst as water pressure is counteracted by the pressure of the cell wall.
o The back pressure (turgor pressure) exerted by the cell prevents the cell from over
filling. This is the normal physiological state for plant cells.
o In distilled water, as with plant cell the solution is hypotonic to the animal cell
cytoplasm and therefore there will be a net influx of water into the cell.
o However, unlike the plant cell, the animal has nothing to counteract the increasing
water pressure inside and so the cells burst (lyses).
o Distilled water is hypotonic to the cytoplasm of both animal and plant cells and
there will be a net movement of water into both types of cells. However, while
animals will burst due to the massive influx of water, plant cells have a cell wall
which exerts a back pressure to counteract the influx of water.
o In plant cells an equilibrium will be reached when the pressure created by the influx
of water equalizes with the pressure exerted by the cell wall. This equilibrium point
is referred to as turgor pressure and gives plants their rigidity.
 The dilute saline solution is isotonic to the cytoplasm and there will be no net movement of
water into or out of the cell (movement of water occurs equally in both directions).
o The cell is flaccid as there is no excess of pressure pushing against the cell wall.
o This solution is isotonic to the cytoplasm so there will be no net movement of water
into or out of the cell. This is the normal physiological condition for a red blood cell.
 A strong salt solution is hypertonic to the cytoplasm so there will be net movement of
water out of the cell. As water moves out, the cell and vacuole will shrink away from the cell
wall. As the cell wall is a rigid fixed structure it will remain in position.
o This situation is referred to as being plasmalysed.
o In a strong salt solution, as with plant cells the solution is hypertonic, to the animal
cell cytoplasm and therefore there will be a net efflux of water out of the cell.
o As the cell loses cytoplasm volume it will shrink and shrivel (become crenated).

PLASMA MEMBRANE
 Membrane phospholipids are amphipathic – that is, they have a hydrophilic (polar) head and
hydrophobic (non-polar) tails so the entire molecule is not completely non-polar.
 In addition, the cell membrane is not simply a phospholipid bilayer but there are numerous
membrane proteins that form channels and transporters that can move polar molecules and
charged ions across the membrane and move other substances against the concentration
gradient.
