KINE 2011 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Conformational Change, Molar Concentration, Sodium Chloride
22 Oct 2017
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Document Summary
Tonicity: the effect of a solution on a cells volume. If we have penetrating solute the volume of the two sides of a beaker doesn"t change. If the membrane is nonpenetrating (solute cannot cross) what will happen is change in volume until the hydrostatic pressure balances it out. Tonicity is only mediated or affected by nonpenetrating solutes: the tonicity of the solution is determined by the concentration of the solution in nonpenetrating solutes (the penetrating ones are rapidly equally distributed between ecf and icf) So we have three different conditions: isotonic solutions: result in a constant cell volume. If we put the cell in extracellular or in a solution that has equal concentration of water but nonpenetrating solutes: hypotonic solutions: tend to swell the cell. The cell is being put in a solution that has less concentration of nonpenetrating solutes than what is inside the cell. So here you have a higher concentration of the nonpenetrating solution.
