Tag: bio-chemistry

Questions Related to bio-chemistry

The osmotic pressures of $0.1$ glucose and $0.1$M sucrose solutions are the same because ______________________.

  1. Both are carbohydrates

  2. These are different compounds having different molecular weights

  3. Both are present in the same concentration

  4. Glucose is reducing sugar while sucrose in non-reducing sugar


Correct Option: A

In plant cells, which of the following are important determinants of movement of molecules in or out of the cell?

  1. Cell wall and cell membrane

  2. Cell wall and tonoplast

  3. Cell wall and glycocalyx

  4. Cell membrane and the membrane of the vacuole


Correct Option: A

When a plasmolysed cell is placed in a hypotonic solution then water will move inside the cell this will happen due to which force

  1. DPD

  2. OP

  3. WP

  4. None of them


Correct Option: B
Explanation:
The force produced because of the osmotic pressure between the plasmolyzed cell and the hypotonic solution is responsible for the movement of water inside the cells.
So, the correct answer is 'OP'.

When a plasmolysed cell is placed in a hypotonic solution then water will move inside the cell. Which force causes this?

  1. DPD

  2. OP

  3. WP

  4. None of these


Correct Option: A
Explanation:
The DPD or diffusion pressure deficit represents the water absorbing capacity of a cell. It is given by, DPD = osmotic pressure (OP)- turgor pressure (TP). Since turgor pressure is negative in a plasmolysed cell the DPD will be high (maximum). This will cause water to enter into the cell when it is placed in a hypotonic solution. The entry of water will stop only when the cell is fully turgid. In such condition, the OP and Tp will be equal and hence DPD will be 0. Therefore, DPD determines the ability of the cell to absorb water. So, the correct option is ' DPD'.

Which of the following statements is correct?

  1. Bacteria do not survive in salted pickles because they get plasmolyzed in hypertonic medium.

  2. Osmotic potential is numerically equal to the osmotic pressure but is negative in sign.

  3. Kneading of wheat flour is accompanied by release of heat as a result of water being imbibed by the protein in the flour

  4. All of these


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

A- Salting is used because most bacteria, fungi and other potentially pathogenic organisms cannot survive in a highly salty environment, due to the hypertonic nature of salt. Any living cell in such an environment will become dehydrated through osmosis and die or become temporarily inactivated.

B- The modern plant physiologists have substituted the term osmotic pressure (O.P.) by osmotic potential. However, it is to be noted here that osmotic potential is numerically equal to the osmotic pressure but is negative in sign and it (osmotic potential) is denoted by ψ(psi). Thus
O.P = – ψ or ψ = –O.P.

So, the correct option is  'Option D'.

Which of the following statements does not apply to reverse osmosis?

  1. It is used for water purification

  2. In this technique, pressure greater than osmotic pressure is applied to the system

  3. It is a passive process

  4. It is an active process


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

Osmosis is passive transport where water follows down the gradient across a semi-permeable membrane from a higher concentration to a  lower concentration. Reverse osmosis simply means that the cumulative pressure gradients cause the flow of water molecules to go against the osmotic pressure gradient from a lower concentration to the higher concentration. 
As the process of reverse osmosis requires energy for transporting molecules against the concentration gradient, it is an active process.

The concentration of solute in four cells is $0.4\,M$. They are placed in four separate containers I, II, III and IV, filled with saline water of concentration $0.1\,M$, $0.4\,M$, $2\,M$ and $3\,M$ respectively. In which container will the cell swell?

  1. $I$

  2. $II$

  3. $III$

  4. $IV$


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Concentration of container-I with respect to the cell is hypotonic, therefore, endosmosis occurs and water will move from its higher concentration towards its lower concentration(i.e., from container to cell), as a result of which cell in container-I will swell.

The maximum pressure developed in a solution when separated from pure water by a semipermeable membrane is called

  1. Turgor pressure

  2. Wall pressure

  3. Osmotic pressure

  4. DPD


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

Osmotic pressure refers to the maximum amount of pressure, which gets developed in a solution after separating from a pure solvent with the help of a semipermeable membrane. In other words, osmotic pressure is the maximum pressure required to prevent the flow of pure water into a given solution through osmosis.

A plant cell placed in pure water will

  1. expand until the osmotic potential or solute potential reaches that of water

  2. becomes more turgid until the pressure potential of cell reaches its osmotic potential

  3. become more turgid until the osmotic potential reaches that of pure water.

  4. becomes less turgid until the osmotic potential reaches that of pure water.


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Plant cells are enclosed by a rigid cell wall. When the plant cell is placed in a hypotonic solution, it takes up water by osmosis and starts to swell, but the cell wall prevents it from bursting. The plant cell is said to have become "turgid" i.e. swollen and hard. The pressure inside the cell rises until this internal pressure is equal to the pressure outside. This liquid or hydrostatic pressure called the turgor pressure prevents further net intake of water. 

So the correct answer is 'becomes more turgid until the pressure potential of the cell reaches its osmotic potential'.

If a red blood cell (interior concentration of 0.9% salt) was placed into a test tube of 10% salt, what would happen to the red blood cell?

  1. It would fill with water and burst

  2. Nothing, the solution is isotonic to the interior of the red blood cell

  3. The red blood cell would shrink as it loses water to the salt solution in the test tube

  4. None of these


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

In this case, the concentration of solution outside the blood cell is more and is thus called as hypertonic. It infers that the cell will shrink, as the water inside the cell moves outside making the cell flaccid. This process is called exosmosis. It happens because of the variation in the concentration gradient.

So, the correct answer is option C.