Biology Forums - Study Force

of the cell?

I'm guessing you meant: Hypotonic?

Tonicity is a measure of the effective osmotic pressure gradient (as defined by the water potential of the two solutions) of two solutions separated by a semipermeable membrane. In other words, tonicity is the relative concentration of solutions that determine the direction and extent of diffusion. It is commonly used when describing the response of cells immersed in an external solution. Unlike osmotic pressure, tonicity is influenced only by solutes that cannot cross the membrane, as only these exert an effective osmotic pressure. Solutes able to freely cross the membrane do not affect tonicity because they will always be in equal concentrations on both sides of the membrane.

Hypotonic refers to a lesser concentration. In biology, a hypotonic solution has a lower concentration of solutes outside the cell than inside the cell. In an attempt to balance the concentrations of solutes inside and outside the cell, water will rush into the cell, and can cause it to burst.

Some organisms have evolved intricate methods of circumventing hypotonicity. For example, saltwater is hypertonic to the fish that live in it. They need a large surface area in their gills in contact with seawater for gas exchange, thus they lose water osmotically to the sea from gill cells. They respond to the loss by drinking large amounts of saltwater, and actively excreting the excess salt. This process is called osmoregulation.