A student prepared some epidermal tissue from a red onion (Allium cepa). She placed one group of cells in distilled water and another group in a 1.0 mol dm-3 sodium chloride solution. She then used a light microscope to observe the cells.
Describe the differences in the appearance of the cells in the 1.0 mol dm-3 sodium chloride solution compared with the cells in distilled water.
State what is meant by the term osmosis.
Explain what happens to the cells in the 1.0 mol dm-3 sodium chloride solution to change their appearance.
Another student investigated the appearance of mammalian erythrocytes (red blood cells) in distilled water and in a 1.0 mol dm-3 sodium chloride solution.
Use your knowledge of osmosis and the structure of erythrocytes to describe and explain what these cells would look like:
(i) in distilled water
in the 1.0 mol dm-3 sodium chloride solution.