Question

Potatoes, like most cells, are composed of approximately 99% water. When freshly peeled potatoes are placed into a bowl of pure water, what will happen to the potatoes?
A. they will shrink due to water leaving the potato

B. they will have no change since the amounts of water entering the potatoes will balance the amounts of water leaving the potatoes

C. the potatoes will absorb some of the water and become firmer

D. the potato cells will absorb a great deal of water and burst

Answer 1

The answer is C. 
The water inside the potato contains more salt and other minerals than the pure water that surrounds it. Due to this osmosis will occur and the pure water will diffuse into thhe potato to bring down the salt concentration inside the potato

Answer 2

The answer should be C. Even though potatoes have a pretty high concentration of water, 1% is still salts/minerals/other things in a potato. That means that if the potato is surrounded by pure water, then the potato should absorb some water, as water molecules will move from the more concentrated area to the less concentrated area. However, 99% is relatively close to 100%, so not too much water would be absorbed. Hope this helps!