Question

If a plant cell is placed in a salt water solution, where the concentration of water is greater in the solution than in the cell, what direction would the water move?( plant cell to water solution or water solution to plant cell) Explain.

Answer 1

Salt reduces the amount of water in a solution, because you're introducing another molecule. If the water concentrations are different, the water is going to want to reach an equilibrium to balance itself out. Because the salt solution has a higher water concentration than the plant cell, the water will move into the cell to try and balance out the concentrations. If the salt solution had a lower water concentration (water potential) then water would move from the cell into the solution.