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The simple answer is osmosis. Osmosis is the movement of water from a dilute solution to a more concentrated solution through a semi-permeable membrane*. Any animal in freshwater has a higher concentration of dissolved substances in its cells than the surrounding water. A Paramecium is enclosed by a semi-permeable cell membrane, which lets water in but prevents most dissolved substances leaking out. Under these conditions osmosis will occur and the cell will gain water. To prevent itself swelling up and bursting Paramecium has a contractile vacuole, a structure in the cell which fills up with water and periodically expells it back into the surroundings. * The semi-premeable membrane is also called partially permeable or selectively permeable, which all mean basically the same thing.

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Why would a Paramecium need to remove water?

Paramecium need to regulate their internal water content to prevent bursting due to excessive water intake through osmosis. They remove water by contracting their contractile vacuole, which expels excess water from the cell to maintain internal balance, ensuring their survival in various environments.


Network of ducts and reservoirs that allow paramecium to equalize water pressure through the cell membrane?

The contractile vacuole system functions as a network of ducts and reservoirs within a paramecium to regulate water balance and remove excess water from the cell. The system helps the paramecium maintain osmotic equilibrium by actively pumping out water that enters the cell through osmosis, preventing it from bursting due to excessive water intake. This allows the paramecium to survive in various aquatic environments with fluctuating osmotic conditions.


The paramecium and water mold are in the kingdom?

The paramecium belongs to the kingdom Protista, while the water mold belongs to the kingdom Fungi.


Why is a contractile vacuole important to paramecium?

Water is constantly coming down it's concentrations gradient and osmotically entering the paramecium's cell. The cell would soon burst if there were not a way to offload much of this water, so contractile vacuoles do this job for the paramecium.


Why is that a Paramecium sp. which lives in the ocean does not possess a contractile vacuole where as a similar Paramecium sp. which lives in fresh water must have such a cytoplasm organelle?

Freshwater Paramecium must have a contractile vacuole to regulate water intake and prevent cell lysis due to the hypotonic environment. In contrast, ocean-dwelling Paramecium face an isotonic environment that does not require active regulation of water intake or expulsion, therefore they do not need a contractile vacuole.

Related Questions

Why would a Paramecium need to remove water?

Paramecium need to regulate their internal water content to prevent bursting due to excessive water intake through osmosis. They remove water by contracting their contractile vacuole, which expels excess water from the cell to maintain internal balance, ensuring their survival in various environments.


How does a paramecium get water?

Paramecia live in water so they don't need to "get" it except by sucking some in if they happen to need any.


How does the concractile vacuole in a paramecium help maintain homeostasis?

They arf type of excretory organell.They remove excess water from cell.


Where does paramecium grow?

the paramecium lives in pond water and creeks sometimes.


Network of ducts and reservoirs that allow paramecium to equalize water pressure through the cell membrane?

The contractile vacuole system functions as a network of ducts and reservoirs within a paramecium to regulate water balance and remove excess water from the cell. The system helps the paramecium maintain osmotic equilibrium by actively pumping out water that enters the cell through osmosis, preventing it from bursting due to excessive water intake. This allows the paramecium to survive in various aquatic environments with fluctuating osmotic conditions.


What happens when the Paramecium gets close to the salt?

When a Paramecium gets close to salt, it will experience a process called osmosis. Salt has a higher concentration of solutes compared to the inside of the Paramecium, so water will move out of the Paramecium through osmosis to try to balance the concentration of solutes on both sides of the cell membrane. This loss of water can cause the Paramecium to shrink or even die if the salt concentration is too high.


If a paramecium were to swim from a hypotonic environment to an isotonic one would the activity of its contractile vacuole increase or decrease?

The activity of the contractile vacoule would decrease. While in the hypotonic solution, water was moving into the paramecium because it had a higher solute concentration that the solution that it was in and water follows solute. So, the isotonic solution would contain the same solute concentration as the paramecium so there would be no net water movement. Therefore, the contractile vacoule would decrease in its activity because there would be no water entering or exiting the paramecium.


The paramecium and water mold are in the kingdom?

The paramecium belongs to the kingdom Protista, while the water mold belongs to the kingdom Fungi.


Why is a contractile vacuole important to paramecium?

Water is constantly coming down it's concentrations gradient and osmotically entering the paramecium's cell. The cell would soon burst if there were not a way to offload much of this water, so contractile vacuoles do this job for the paramecium.


Why is that a Paramecium sp. which lives in the ocean does not possess a contractile vacuole where as a similar Paramecium sp. which lives in fresh water must have such a cytoplasm organelle?

Freshwater Paramecium must have a contractile vacuole to regulate water intake and prevent cell lysis due to the hypotonic environment. In contrast, ocean-dwelling Paramecium face an isotonic environment that does not require active regulation of water intake or expulsion, therefore they do not need a contractile vacuole.


The organism paramecium moves with what?

The organism paramecium moves using hair-like structures called cilia that cover its entire body. The coordinated beating of these cilia allows the paramecium to propel itself through water by creating a flow of water around its body.


What would happen to the paramecium if the water-expelling vesicle stopped working?

The paramecium would eventually die because the paramecium wouldn't get any water and without the water-expelling vesicle the paramecium can't get the water out without getting other bacterias while doing so.