Question

Explain what will happen to the plant cell, if it is kept in a solution having higher water potential.

Answer 1

Hint: A hypertonic solution consists of a greater concentration of solutes comparison to another solution. In a hypertonic solution, the animal and plant cell shrinks, because it loses water (water moves from a higher concentration inside the cell to a lower concentration outside).

Complete answer:
To answer this question, we have to know about water potential. Water potential is the hydrostatic pressure produced by water because of its kinetic energy. The hypotonic solution has a higher concentration of water so they have high water potential.
When the plant cell is kept in a solution which has high water potential, water penetrates into the cell which causes the cytoplasm to develop a pressure against the wall, known as turgor pressure. The pressure released by the protoplasts because of the entry of water against the hard walls is known as pressure potential. Because of the rigidity of the cell wall, the cell does not rupture. This turgor pressure is the main reason for expansion of cells.

Additional information:
Plasmolysis is carried out when water is released from the cell, then the cell membrane of a plant cell gets smaller aside from its cell wall. This happens when the cell is kept in a solution that is hypertonic to the protoplasm.

Note:When the plant cell is kept in a hypotonic solution, it absorbs water via osmosis and begins to expand, but the cell wall stops it from bursting. The plant cell becomes "turgid" or we can say hard and swollen. The inner pressure of the cell increases till this inner pressure is the same to the outer pressure.