Explain why cucumber slices spring water when salt is added to it in terms of osmosis?

Answer 1

The salt creates the equivalent of a hypertonic solution outside the cucumber's cells. A hypertonic solution is one where the concentration of solute (think of solute as particles, and in this case, sodium and chloride atoms from the table salt) is greater than the solution it is being compared to--in this case, the liquid inside the cucumber cells. In order to equilibrate osmotically, water diffuses out of the cucumber's cells in the direction of the high salt "solution." The process is used, in effect, to "dry out" the cucumber so that recipes that use these slices won't be soggy.

Answer 2

When salt is added to cucumber slices, it creates a hypertonic environment outside the cells of the cucumber. This causes water to move out of the cucumber cells through osmosis, leading to the cucumber slices losing water and becoming limp or springy. The salt concentration outside the cells is higher than inside, so water moves from an area of lower solute concentration (inside the cells) to an area of higher solute concentration (outside the cells).