Class IX

Assignment 1

Chapter 5: The Fundamental Unit of Life

Q1) What are the functional regions of a cell?

Ans. i) Cell membrane or plasma membrane

ii) Nucleus

iii) Cytoplasm

Q2) Write two points of difference between the nuclear

region of a bacterial cell and a nuclear region of an animal
cell.
Ans.
Nuclear region of a Nuclear region of an
bacterial cell animal cell
( Prokaryotic cell) ( Eukaryotic cell)
(i) Nuclear region is poorly (i) Nuclear region is well -
defined due to the defined and
absence of nuclear surrounded by a
membrane, and nuclear membrane.
known as nucleoid.

(ii) Nucleolus is absent. (ii) Nucleolus is present.

 Q3) Place a de-shelled egg in water for five minutes. What
do you observe?

(Note: De-shelled egg means the shell of an egg is removed by

dissolving it in dilute hydrochloric acid. The shell is mostly
calcium carbonate. A thin outer skin now encloses the egg.)

Ans The egg swells because water passes into it by osmosis.

(HYPOTONIC SOLUTION)

Q4) What will happen if a de-shelled egg is placed in a

concentrated salt solution for five minutes?

Ans The egg shrinks because water passes out of the egg
solution into the salt solution by exosmosis. The salt
solution is more concentrated (HYPERTONIC
SOLUTION) as compared to egg.

Q5) Why do vegetable vendors (sabziwala) regularly

sprinkle water on the vegetables in their baskets?

Ans. Water makes a hypotonic environment for the

plant cells and they take up water by osmosis to avoid
plasmolysed conditions. Therefore the vegetables look
crisp and fresh.

Q6) What will happen if RBCs are kept in a hypertonic

solution for a few minutes?
 Ans. As the medium has a lower concentration of water
than the RBCs. So RBCs lose water by exosmosis and
shrink.
Q7) Put dried raisins in pure water and leave them for some
time. Then place them in a concentrated solution of
sugar. What do you observe in both cases?

Ans Case 1:

Each gains water by endosmosis and swells when placed in

pure water.

Case 2:

When placed in the concentrated solution it loses water by

exosmosis and hence shrinks.

Q8) Will the temperature have any effect on the process

of the osmosis?

Ans Yes the higher temperature will increase the rate of water
entering the cell as it increases the kinetic energy of the
solution.

Q9) Will the size of an onion peel cell change when kept in a
concentrated salt solution (hypertonic solution)?

Ans The cells will become smaller.

Explanation:

If the solute concentration is higher outside of the cell, the cell

will lose water by exosmosis and the cell membrane and
cytoplasm shrinks away from the cell wall. This
phenomenon is known as plasmolysis.

Q10) What would happen if shelled raw egg is placed in a

hypotonic solution?

Ans. If a shelled raw egg is placed in pure water neither can

enter nor leave the egg due to the presence of the non
permeable hard shell.