Need help with a case study

Published Oct 7, 2009

952 Posts

My professor is making my group redo a case study because it wasn't exactly the way she wanted even though we didn't have time to do it that way, and we told the prof subbing and made a note of it...and I can't get in contact with my group, so I tried to remember/figure out the answers myself, and I want to know if they're correct.

Here's a link to the case study: http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/sickle_cell3.html

Here are my answers:

1. 500 mM sucrose has an osmolarity of 500 mOsm

300 mM NaCl has an osmolarity of 600 mOsm

100 mM NaCl has an osmolarity of 200 mOsm

Saline (150 mM) has an osmolarity of 300 mOsm

2. Saline is isotonic. The 500 mM sucrose and 300 mM NaCl are hypertonic. The 100 mM NaCl is hypotonic.

3. 500 mM sucrose: Has the highest Hb concentration and lowest water concentration.

300 mM NaCl: Has the second highest Hb concentration and second lowest H20 conc.

100 mM NaCl: Has the fourth highest Hb concentration and lowest H20 concentration.

Saline (150 mM): Has the third highest Hb concentration and third lowest H20 concentration.

4. In the 100 mM solution water would flow into the cell. In the saline solution, the water concentration would remain the same inside and outside the cell. In the 300 mM solution, water would flow out of the cell. In the 500 mM solution, water would flow out of the cell.

5. The cells in the hypertonic solutions will have more hemoglobin than the cells in the hypotonic solution.

6. The less hemoglobin there is, the less sickling there is.

7. Peter is most likely to try the 100 mM NaCl solution because it would lower the hemoglobin and decrease the sickling.

8. Saline would produce no change. The 100 mM solution would lower the hemoglobin. The distilled water would cause death.

Thank you so much in advance!