Question

A person takes a concentrated solution of salt. After some time he starts vomiting, what is the phenomenon responsible for such a situation?
A. The concentrated salt solution causes dehydration in the intestine due to exosmosis.
B. Exosmosis leads to uncomfortable stretching, reverse movement of food takes place and leads to vomiting.
C. Both A and B
D. None of the above

Answer 1

Endosmosis is the condition when the solute moves from the lower concentration to the higher concentration. It is an ancient technique used to make a person vomit. Our tissues in the body have less solute. The osmosis will occur to balance them.

Complete answer:
A cell undergoes osmosis according to the environment in which it is present. When the water moves inside the cell, it is endosmosis. Whereas the expulsion of water from the cell is exosmosis.

When a person takes a concentrated solution of salt, this means he has ingested a lot of solutes and less of the water. When this solution will reach the intestine, where the concentration of salt is low and the concentration of water is high, the water will start to move from the high to low concentration. That means, exosmosis will take place, the water moving outside the intestine will cause the accumulation of water, which is expelled out by vomiting. So, this was the whole mechanism.

Let us now see the options which can explain this mechanism.

Option A - Concentrated salt solution causes dehydration in the intestine due to exosmosis: dehydration is the loss of water. Here the loss of water is from the intestine causing it to dehydrate. The excess amount of water outside the intestine will result in vomiting. So this option holds the mechanism.

Option B - Exosmosis leads to uncomfortable stretching, reverse movement of food takes place and leads to vomiting: the statement is incorrect in the aspect that the exosmosis will lead to uncomfortable irritation. There will be irritation caused due to dehydration in the cells, but there is no stretching. Reversal of food with vomiting is due to the accumulation of excess of water outside the cells.

So the answer is option A: Concentrated salt solution causes dehydration in the intestine due to exosmosis

Note: Osmosis is the spontaneous movement of a solvent through a selective semi-permeable membrane. It helps to maintain the gradient on both sides of the membrane. Pure water has a very high water potential. Plants cells take in water by osmosis until the cell wall pushes back the cell contents with equal pressure.