Chapter 3, Problem 7CR

Summary Introduction

To review:

The fate of the cell in a low salt or high salt environment.

Introduction:

The maintenance of the volume of a cell is important for various reasons. Cells try to regulate their cell volume by various mechanisms such as the sodium-potassium (Na⁺/K⁺) pump. The volume of the cell also depends on the concentration of the fluid surrounding it. In other words, it depends on the tonicity or the relative concentration of solutes such as sodium (Na⁺) ions in two different fluids (inside the cell and outside the cell).