What happens to animal cells if they are put in fresh water?

Question

Eli Ayoub · Accepted Answer

They would burst...

When we put animal cells into pure, fresh water #(H_2O)#, water enters the cells as a result of osmosis, and making the cell expand. This is because osmosis states that water will diffuse down a concentration gradient through the cell's partially permeable membrane.

Water will move from a high concentration (the solution) to a region of low concentration (inside the cell). This will make the cell expand greatly. Since animal cells do not have a cell wall, when too much of this water enters to make the concentration of water on both sides even, the animal cell may eventually burst, and die out.

Daniel Arnold · Answer

Below

Osmosis is the process by which water diffuses quickly into your animal cells when they are submerged in fresh water. Why? Because the concentration of water in your cells is lower than that outside of them, water will seek to enter the cell in order to bring the concentration of water inside and outside of it to equal levels. Lysing occurs when the cell expands to the point of rupture due to the constant inflow of water into the cell to maintain an equal concentration.

Sebastian Alvarado · Answer

undefined Animal cells will experience osmosis, which is the process by which water from the surrounding environment enters the cell and causes it to swell and possibly burst because the concentration of solutes inside the cell is higher than that of the surrounding fresh water.