Hospital patients are often given intravenous fluids (IVs) to maintain proper levels of water and salts in the

body. Great care is used in preparing these solutions. If a manufacturer accidentally prepared a batch of IV

fluid that contained much more than the usual amount of salt, harm to the patient could result. The most

likely effect on a patient if this incorrectly prepared IV fluid was used is that

(1) water would move into body cells and cause them to burst

(2) water would move out of body cells and cause them to dehydrate

(3) salt and water would both move out of body cells and disrupt homeostasis

(4) salt and water would both move into body cells and preserve homeostasis

If the amount of salts in the intravenous fluid given to the patient was greater than the usual amount, the patient's cells would osmosis, due to salt imbalance in the subject's body. As a result of osmosis, water would come out of cells in an attempt to balance the amount of water in the body and leave the body dehydrated.

Osmosis is the passage of water from a less concentrated medium to a more concentrated medium through the plasma membrane seeking to equalize the salt concentrations between the internal and external medium of a cell. Whenever there is a difference in concentration between the external and internal environment of the cell, water will move from the least concentrated to the most naturally concentrated.