You are stranded on a lifeboat with several other people in the middle of the ocean. You have run out of clean drinking water and are very thirsty. The others have started to drink the seawater to quench their thirst. Since you’re waiting for rescue (and are a top notch AP Biology student), you decide to solve a couple of water potential problems to determine if drinking sea water is a good idea or not. a) The majority of dissolved ions in seawater is NaCl, roughly a 0.5M concentration. The ionization constant of NaCl is 2.0. Calculate the solute potential for seawater if you know that the water is 2°C. b) Your own cells have a 0.15M concentration. Calculate the solute potential for your own cells, knowing that body temperature is 37°C. c) Using your knowledge about water potential, if you drink the seawater, wat will happen when the seawater comes into contact with your body’s cells? Note: ΨP for animal cells is zero
You are stranded on a lifeboat with several other people in the middle of the ocean. You have run out of clean drinking water and are very thirsty. The others have started to drink the seawater to quench their thirst. Since you’re waiting for rescue (and are a top notch AP Biology student), you decide to solve a couple of water potential problems to determine if drinking sea water is a good idea or not.
a) The majority of dissolved ions in seawater is NaCl, roughly a 0.5M concentration. The ionization constant of NaCl is 2.0. Calculate the solute potential for seawater if you know that the water is 2°C.
b) Your own cells have a 0.15M concentration. Calculate the solute potential for your own cells, knowing that body temperature is 37°C.
c) Using your knowledge about water potential, if you drink the seawater, wat will happen when the seawater comes into contact with your body’s cells? Note: ΨP for animal cells is zero
The formula for solute potential is
i is ionisation constant of NaCl = 2
C is concentration in Moles/Litres= 0.5M
R is pressure constant and is equal to 0.0821 L Bar/mol°K
T is Temperature in degree Kelvin and calculated by 273+°C = 273+2 °C= 275K
S= -
s= -22.5 bars
The solute potential of seawater when water is at 2°C is -22.5 bars
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