How do animal cells and plant cells react differently in a hypotonic solution?

Answer 1

Hypotonic solutions make the cytoplasm swell up because more water is going into the cell than out of the cell. An animal cell is surrounded by just the plasma membrane, and it might swell up to the point that it breaks open. A plant cell has a cell wall just outside the plasma membrane. The cell wall provides enough support to keep the cell from bursting open, but the extra water inside the cell makes more pressure pushing on the inside of the cell wall, so the cell is very rigid.