Question

The picture shows a contractile vacuole of a unicellular freshwater organism. The contractile vacuole regulates the flow of water into and out of the cell in an aquatic environement. What condtions cause the contracile vacuole to fill with water? Your answer: A.The concentration of water is greater outside the cell than inside the cell. B.The concentration of water inside the cell is the same as the concentration outside the cell. C.The temperature of water in the vacuole is higher than the temperature of its environment.

Answer 1

Answer:

A.The concentration of water is greater outside the cell than inside the cell.

Explanation:

The contractile vacuole of certain organisms functions to regulate water flow in and out of the cell. It does this by storing excess water that comes into the cell. In the case of this organism with a filled up contractile vacuole, it means water is flowing into the cell.

Naturally, water will flow into a living cell when an osmotic gradient i.e. difference in concemtration, has been created between intracellular and extracellular solutions. Osmosis involves movement of substances from a region of high water concentration to a region of low water concentration. This means that if water is flowing into the cell, which is stored by the contractile vacuole, the concentration of water must be greater outside the cell than inside.