When soaked in a hypotonic solution, water will move ____ the red blood cells.

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Question: When soaked in a hypotonic solution, water will move ____ the red blood cells.

Option 1: 'out of' — If water moved out of the red blood cells, the cells would shrink (crenate) as water leaves to balance the lower solute concentration outside. However, in a hypotonic solution the outside environment has a lower solute concentration than inside the cell, so water tends to enter the cell rather than leave.

Option 2: 'into' — In a hypotonic solution, the extracellular fluid is less concentrated than the cytoplasm. Water moves toward the area of higher solute concentration to balance osmotic pressure, which is inside the red blood cell. Consequently, water flows into the cell, causing it to swell and potentially burst if overly excessive.

Option 3: 'in and out in equal amounts of' — Equal movement would imply no net osmotic flux. This would occur if the external solution were isotonic, having the same solute concentration as the cell interior. In a hypotonic context, the concentrations are not equal, so this balance is not achieved.

Summary of reasoning: The movement of water across a membrane is driven by osmotic gradients. A hypotonic external solution presents a lower solute concentration than the cell interior, creating a gradient that favors water entry into the cell. The alternative options misrepresent the direction of net water movement under hypotonic conditions or assume a balance that does not exist in this scenario.

When soaked in a hypotonic solution, water will move ____ the red blood cells.

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