Which term refers to a solution with a higher solute concentration than the cell interior?

Which term refers to a solution with a higher solute concentration than the cell interior?

• A. Hypertonic
• B. Hypotonic
• C. Isotonic
• D. Osmotic Pressure

Answer: (A)

Tonicity describes how the solute concentration outside a cell compares to the inside and predicts the direction water moves by osmosis. When the external solution has a higher solute concentration than the cell interior, water leaves the cell to try to balance the concentrations, causing the cell to shrink. That environment is hypertonic. The other terms describe different relationships: hypotonic means the outside has a lower solute concentration, so water enters and the cell swells; isotonic means equal concentrations with no net water movement; osmotic pressure is the pressure produced by water moving across a membrane due to a solute gradient, not the label for the external solution’s concentration.

Tonicity describes how the solute concentration outside a cell compares to the inside and predicts the direction water moves by osmosis. When the external solution has a higher solute concentration than the cell interior, water leaves the cell to try to balance the concentrations, causing the cell to shrink. That environment is hypertonic. The other terms describe different relationships: hypotonic means the outside has a lower solute concentration, so water enters and the cell swells; isotonic means equal concentrations with no net water movement; osmotic pressure is the pressure produced by water moving across a membrane due to a solute gradient, not the label for the external solution’s concentration.