Question

A student places four identical cells into four different liquids. Cell Description of Liquid W Saltier than the cell X Less salty than the cell Y Equally as salty as the cell Z Pure water with no salts Over time, which cell will look the smallest? Cell W cell X cell Y cell Z

Answer 1

This description can be expressed as follows:

$Y>W>X$

And,

$W=Z$

From these expressions we are able to find out that the saltiest cell description is Y, while the less salty is X.

Now, salt is well known as a dehydrating agent. In a process called osmosis cells placed in a salty liquid environment lose water, how?

Well, cells have a semipermeable membrane, in which some substances can get inside. Cells also have water inside. If a cell is placed in a quite salty liquid environment, salt will make the water inside the cells to come out, drying the cell and diminishing its size.

So, in this case, according to the expressions above, Cell Y will look the smallest, while cell X will look the biggest.

If we pour pure water in each liquid, the salt concentration will change and each cell will begin to grow bigger, but the saltiest cell will still be smaller than the others with less salt concentration.

Finally, to answer the question: Y cell will look the smallest after this process.

Answer 2

Just look at the bottom of the first answer.