What happens if a red blood cell is suspended in isotonic solution, hypotonic solution and hypertonic solution?
I love the “Last, Blast and Collapse” answer from the first poster. Here I’ll tell you why it’s true. We are talking about a process called “osmosis” which refers to the exchange of water across cell membranes. If you put a red blood cell in an isotonic solution, water will pass freely into and out of the cell – no “net” change, and the cell will live (Last). A hypotonic solution contains less “stuff” or solutes than the cell, so water will move from the solution into the cell causing it to swell, and eventually “Burst”. Finally, a hypertonic solution contains more “stuff” or solutes than the cell, so water will move out of the cell into the solution and it will eventually “collapse”.
