A runner on a hot day lost a lot of salt and water as heperspired and he eventua

Question

A runner on a hot day lost a lot of salt and water as heperspired and he eventually collapsed. Even though the runnerdrank water along the route, analysis showed that many of his redblood cells burst. How would you explain this? (hint: on hotdays, runners consume drinks that contain sugar, salt andwater) I think this has something to do with membranetransport. A runner on a hot day lost a lot of salt and water as heperspired and he eventually collapsed. Even though the runnerdrank water along the route, analysis showed that many of his redblood cells burst. How would you explain this? (hint: on hotdays, runners consume drinks that contain sugar, salt andwater) I think this has something to do with membranetransport.

Explanation / Answer

This has to do with the relative salinity inside versus outside thered blood cell. When you drink lots of water, the liquid portion ofyour blood becomes less saline, because the ratio of water to ionsincreases. This affects the balance of ions inside and outside thered blood cells: the cell membranes do not allow most ions to exitthe cell, so the ion concentration remains the same. However, themembrane does allow water to enter into the cells, and because ofdiffusion, water flows to where there is less free water (and ahigher ion concentration). Water flows into the cells until thecells explode. This is where the drinks with sugar bit comes in:the sugar keeps a higher ion concentration in the blood, so thatexcess water will not flow into the red blood cells.

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