Question

if you immerse a living cell in a hypertonic solution, water will

Answer 1

Osmosis is the net movement of water molecules from an area of high water potential to an area of low water potential across a semipermeable membrane. A hypertonic solution is one with a lower water potential than that of the cell, thus water will move out of the cell via exosmosis and the cytoplasm of the cell will shrink. This process is known as plasmolysis.