Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Why with a hypotonic environment does water diffuse inside the cell?

If molecules travel from high to low concentrations then why with a hypotonic environment does water diffuse inside the cell? Does this have to do with more water going into the cell means the solute concentration will be lower? I guess I'm confused because when diffusion is discussed it says it is the transfer of molecules from an area of high to low concentration, so you would think since the outside of the cell has a lower concentration than the inside, molecules should move out of the cell to balance with the environment. So why is it that in this case, water travels inside the cell?

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