When a cell is placed in a hypertonic solution, the contents of the cell shrink away from the cell wall. This process is known as ___________.

Reason: Hypertonic - high solute (salt) concentration and low water level outside the cell. If the medium has lower concentration of water than the cell, meaning that it is very concentrated solution; the cell will lose water by exosmosis. Such a solution is known as hypertonic solution. (Osmosis - is the passage of water from a region of high water concentration through a semi-permeable membrane to a region of low water concentration. Thus, osmosis is a special case of diffusion through a semi permeable membrane). More water will leave the cell through cell membrane than enters it. Therefore, the cell shrinks. When a living plant cell loses water through osmosis there is shrinkage of the contents of the cell away from cell wall since it is rigid. This phenomenon is known as Plasmolysis (Plasma = protoplasm, lysis - Breakdown)