Question

If the contents of a cell have a solute concentration of 0.04 percent, which of these solutions would cause it to swell?

Answer 1

water!

Answer 2

@Hbanana1 I assume you mean the contents of the cell of a solute that cannot cross the plasma membrane and has a 0.04% per unit^3. You want to look at hyper- and hypotonic. So, why would a cell swell? Water would like to have a equal solute concentration inside and outside of the cell, but the solute cannot cross the membrane only water. So, the cell would swell if water entered the cell at a greater rate than it exited the cell to equalize the solute concentrations.

If the water enters the cell that means it is making the solution in the cell more dilute, so it means that outside the cell is a lower concentration than inside the cell. Since the solute cannot move, the water has to move to make the concentrations equal. Anything less than 0.004%. The greater the difference, the greater the volume of water that would enter cell in a given period of time. Remember, water moves freely so it is always going both directions across the membrane, but at different rates. Like how a city has more cars entering it in the morning than leaving it (generally speaking).