A scientist grew an Elodea plant in a freshwater aquarium. She removed a leaf from the plant and placed the leaf in a hypertonic
solution containing 8% salt in order to observe what happened to the
cells within the leaf. When she looked at the cells under a microscope,
she noticed that the cells in the leaf shrunk. Which statement best
explains what caused the cells to shrink?
A. The hypertonic solution caused the water in the cell to move from the
cytoplasm into the nucleus.
B. The salt moved from the hypertonic solution into the cell and
chemically bonded with the water.
C. The salt within the cell moved through the cell membrane into the
solution with the higher salt concentration.
D. The water within the cell moved through the cell membrane into the
solution with the lower water concentration.

D. The water within the cell moved through the cell membrane into the  solution with the lower water concentration.

Explanation:

Osmosis is the process of movement of water or any other fluid from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration across a semipermeable membrane.

A hypertonic solution is the one which has higher solute concentration and low solvent concentration.

According to the given situation, the scientist when placed the leaf in the hypertonic solution containing 8% salt solution. The water in the leaf cells will move out of the leaf due to osmosis and the leaf will shrink. As the 8% salt solution is hypertonic.

fertilization, pictured in figure 24.23a is the process in which gametes (an egg and sperm) fuse to form a zygote. the egg and sperm each contain one set of chromosomes. to ensure that the offspring has only one complete diploid set of chromosomes, only one sperm must fuse with one egg. in mammals, the egg is protected by a layer of extracellular matrix consisting mainly of glycoproteins called the zona pellucida. when a sperm binds to the zona pellucida, a series of biochemical events, called the acrosomal reactions, take place. in placental mammals, the acrosome contains digestive enzymes that initiate the degradation of the glycoprotein matrix protecting the egg and allowing the sperm plasma membrane to fuse with the egg plasma membrane, as illustrated in figure 24.23b. the fusion of these two membranes creates an opening through which the sperm nucleus is transferred into the ovum. the nuclear membranes of the egg and sperm break down and the two haploid genomes condense to form a diploid genome.

explanation: