Question

Define the term: hypertonic solution.

Answer 1

Hint: As we know that tonicity is a measure of the effective osmotic pressure gradient and there are three categories of tonicity that one solution can have relative to another which are hypertonic, hypotonic, and isotonic solution. So here we have to define the hypertonic solution.

Complete answer:
Let us discuss about tonicity followed by the explanation of hypertonic solution as follows:-
-Tonicity: It can be described as the measure of effective osmotic pressure gradient that is the water potential of two solutions separated by a semi permeable cell membrane. In simple words it can be defined as the relative concentration of solutes dissolved in solution that determine the direction and extent of diffusion. This is majorly used when describing the response of cells immersed in an external solution.
-Hypertonic solution: It is a particular type of solution which has a greater concentration of solutes on the outside of a cell as compared to the inside of a cell. A solution outside of a cell is referred to as hypertonic if it has more concentration of solutes than the cytosol inside the cell.
-When a cell is soaked or placed in a hypertonic solution, osmotic pressure tends to force water to flow out of the cell so as to balance the concentrations of the solutes on both sides of the cell membrane.
-Let us take an example:-
 Saltwater is hypertonic to the fish that live in it as the fish require a large surface area in their gills in contact with seawater for gas exchange because they lose water osmotically to the sea from gill cells. They do respond to the loss by drinking large amounts of saltwater as well as actively excreting the excess salt and this process is called osmoregulation.

Note:
-Remember that a hypotonic solution has a lower concentration of solutes than another solution and a solution is said to be isotonic when its effective osmole concentration is the same as that of another solution.
-To solve questions such as these, understand the concept of all types of tonic solutions along with examples.