Paramecium cells - osmosis?

Question

What would happen to the Paramecium cells if the organism was placed in pure water?

Answer 1

The Paramecium would have a very difficult time trying to maintain homeostasis because more water would diffuse into the cell than out of the cell. The Paramecium has a couple of contractile vacuoles to collect and expel excess water, but pure water is probably too much for the cell to handle. The Paramecium would probably swell until it broke open.

Answer 2

A contractile vacuole is a type of vacuole involved in osmoregulation.

It pumps excess water out of a cell and is found prominently in freshwater protists.

In a Paramecium, a common freshwater protist, the vacuole is surrounded by several canals, which absorb water by osmosis from the cytoplasm.

After the canals fill with water, the water is pumped into the vacuole.

When the vacuole is full, it expels the water through a pore in the cytoplasm which can be opened and closed.

This pore has, in some forms of paramecium, disappeared entirely when not in use, leading to the idea of a "second cell" or an anti semi formal cell in certain types of paramecium.

Other protists, such as Amoeba, have contractile vacuoles that move to the surface of the cell when full and undergo exocytosis.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contractile_vacuole"

1) Just as we , if drink plenty of water , our kidneys will work overtime to expel excess water.
Like wise in the protozoa concerned the contractile vacuole will work faster to get rid of excess water as the rate of endosmosis will be higher.

2) If the protozoa does not get any food in 'pure water' then it will most probably die of starvation rhater than C. V. malfunction!

for picture click on the link
http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/biobk/contractilevac.gif

Answer 3

They would starve to death. There's nothing in water for them to eat.