How does osmosis work in animal cells?

Answer 1

Osmosis is the passage of water from a region of high water concentration through a semi-permeable membrane to a region of low water concentration.

Answer 2

When animal cells are placed in sugar solutions things may be rather different because animal cells do not have cell walls. In very dilute solutions, animal cells swell up and burst: they do not become turgid because there is no cell wall to support the cell membrane. In concentrated solutions, water is sucked out of the cell by osmosis and the cell shrinks. In either case there is a problem. So animal cells must always be bathed in a solution having the same osmotic strength as their cytoplasm. This is one of the reasons why we have kidneys. The exact amount of water and salt removed from our blood by our kidneys is under the control of a part of the brain called the hypothalamus. The process of regulating the amounts of water and mineral salts in the blood is called osmoregulation. My insulin page will tell you more about other homeostatic mechanisms.
Animals which live on dry land must conserve water; so must animals which live in the sea (the sea is very salty!), but animals which live in freshwater have the opposite problem; they must get rid of excess water as fast as it gets into their bodies by osmosis.

also u can visit these websites:
http://www.biotopics.co.uk/life/osmdia.html
http://io.uwinnipeg.ca/~simmons/membrane/sld024.htm

Answer 3

osmosis is the movement of water from an area of high water concentration to an area of low water concentration, in the case of animal cells it's across a semi permeable membrane. If too much water moves out the cell (say because it's placed in really salty water) it will shrink, leaving only the membrane. If too much water moves in to the cell (if it was placed in a salt water solution less salty than inside the cell) it will burst (lysis) as there is no protective cell wall to protect it

Answer 4

Animal Cell Osmosis and Plant Cell Osmosis

Plant cells always have a strong cell wall surrounding them. When they take up water by osmosis they start to swell, but the cell wall prevents them from bursting. Plant cells become "turgid" when they are put in dilute solutions. Turgid means swollen and hard. The pressure inside the cell rises, eventually the internal pressure of the cell is so high that no more water can enter the cell. This liquid or hydrostatic pressure works against osmosis. Turgidity is very important to plants because this is what make the green parts of the plant "stand up" into the sunlight. When plant cells are placed in concentrated sugar solutions they lose water by osmosis and they become "flaccid"; this is the exact opposite of "turgid". If you put plant cells into concentrated sugar solutions and look at them under a microscope you would see that the contents of the cells have shrunk and pulled away from the cell wall: they are said to be plasmolysed. When plant cells are placed in a solution which has exactly the same osmotic strength as the cells they are in a state between turgidity and flaccidity. We call this incipient plasmolysis. "Incipient" means "about to be". When you forget to water plants, you will see their leaves droop. Although their cells are not plasmolsysed, they are not turgid and so they do not hold the leaves up into the sunlight. When animal cells are placed in sugar solutions things may be rather different because animal cells do not have cell walls. In very dilute solutions, animal cells swell up and burst: they do not become turgid because there is no cell wall to support the cell membrane. In concentrated solutions, water is sucked out of the cell by osmosis and the cell shrinks. In either case there is a problem. So animal cells must always be bathed in a solution having the same osmotic strength as their cytoplasm. This is one of the reasons why we have kidneys. The exact amount of water and salt removed from our blood by our kidneys is under the control of a part of the brain called the hypothalamus. The process of regulating the amounts of water and mineral salts in the blood is called osmoregulation. Animals which live on dry land must conserve water; so must animals which live in the sea (the sea is very salty!), but animals which live in freshwater have the opposite problem; they must get rid of excess water as fast as it gets into their bodies by osmosis. Osmosis is an important topic in biology because it provides the primary means by which water is transported into and out of cells.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmosis#Animal_Cell_Osmosis_and_Plant_Cell_Osmosis

Answer 5

Why is osmosis important to life?

Answer 6

osmosis is the passing of water molecules through a membrane

Answer 7

same way as in plant cells, just that cuz they got no cell wall and cuz theres always a low water concentration in the cell cuz of glucose and blood and all sorts of nutrients the cell just absorbs water and bursts. :)

Answer 8

it is when water molecules move through a membrane..... this takes me back to my science lessons!!!

Try this for yourself.....

Put a limp lettuce leaf or any other vegetable in water over night and see how hard it is or how much it regains its original shape.

Answer to your question..I dont think it does, I think it only works with plants

Answer 9

Yes it does