Question

why do RBC's begin to burst when placed in distilled water?

Answer 1

The red blood cells swell when placed in distilled water, because of osmosis. There are no salts or any other molecules dissolved in the distilled water, but the red blood cell has many molecules dissolved in its cytoplasm. Because Osmosis states that water tends to move toward regions where there is more solute, the distilled water moves into the red blood cell throught the plasma membrane, and the cell getts bigger/swells. If this happens for too long, the red cells will actually burst (called Lysis) and die. The Hemeglobin (protein that binds to oxygen we breathe to deliver the oxygen to the cells in our body) in red blood cells is what makes them red, so when the lysed cells spill the hemeglobin out into the water, it turns pink. I hope this helps, pls mark as brainliest !