An animal cell placed in pure water will

Options

A. Swell up and burst
B. Shrink and die
C. Shrink and undergo Plasmolysis
D. Swell up and develop turgidity

Answer

**Step-by-Step Solution:**

1. **Understanding Osmosis**: Osmosis is the movement of water across a selectively permeable membrane from an area of lower solute concentration to an area of higher solute concentration. In this case, pure water has a lower solute concentration compared to the inside of the animal cell.

2. **Placement of the Animal Cell**: When an animal cell is placed in pure water, it is in a hypotonic environment. This means that the concentration of solutes outside the cell is lower than that inside the cell.

3. **Water Movement into the Cell**: Due to osmosis, water will move into the animal cell to equalize the solute concentrations on both sides of the cell membrane.

4. **Cell Swelling**: As water enters the cell, the volume of the cell increases, causing it to swell.

5. **Cell Membrane Limitations**: Animal cells do not have a rigid cell wall like plant cells. The cell membrane is flexible but can only stretch to a certain extent.

6. **Cell Bursting**: If too much water enters the cell, the internal pressure will increase beyond the membrane's capacity to contain it, leading to the cell bursting (lysis).

7. **Conclusion**: Therefore, the correct answer to the question is that the animal cell will swell up and burst.

**Final Answer**: Option A: swell up and burst.

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