What will happen to a cell in a concentrated saline solution?

When a cell is placed in a concentrated saline solution, the environment surrounding the cell has a higher concentration of solutes than the inside of the cell itself. This difference in concentration creates a hypertonic environment.

In a hypertonic solution, water moves out of the cell in an attempt to balance the solute concentrations on both sides of the cell membrane. As water leaves, the cell will lose volume and become smaller, which is referred to as shrinking. This process can lead to plasmolysis in plant cells, where the cell membrane pulls away from the cell wall due to the loss of turgor pressure.

Understanding the dynamics of osmosis is crucial here, as it describes the movement of water across a selectively permeable membrane in response to solute concentrations. Thus, when a cell is exposed to a concentrated saline solution, the movement of water out of the cell results in its shrinkage.