Question

you decide to buy a new fish for your freshwater aquarium. when you introduce the fish into its new tank, the fish swells up and dies. you later learn that it was a fish from the ocean. based on what you know of tonicity, the most likely explanation is that the unfortunate fish went from a(n) ____ solution into a(n) ____ solution. • isotonic...hypotonic • hypertonic...isotonic • hypotonic...hypertonic • hypotonic...isotonic • isotonic...hypertonic

Explanation:

• An isotonic solution has the same solute concentration as the cell. A hypotonic solution has a lower solute concentration than the cell. A hypertonic solution has a higher solute concentration than the cell.
• Ocean water is a relatively hypertonic environment for most cells. Freshwater is a hypotonic environment compared to the internal environment of a salt - water fish.
• When the fish (which was adapted to an environment where the surrounding water was isotonic to its cells, assuming it was in a balanced state in the ocean) was moved to freshwater (a hypotonic solution relative to its cells), water would rush into the fish's cells by osmosis. This caused the fish to swell and die.

Answer:

Isotonic...hypotonic