Select the correct answers to the questions from the given options. (Do not copy the questions, write the correct answer only.)
Assertion (A): A turgid plant cell is in a balanced state. Reason (R): In a turgid cell, turgor pressure and wall pressure are equal and in the same direction.
Topic: Assertion-Reason — turgor and wall pressure
Try it
Pick an option and check your answer. The full worked answer is below either way.
Answer
(A) is true and (R) is false.
THE ASSERTION IS TRUE. A fully turgid cell has reached equilibrium — no further water enters, and the cell neither swells nor shrinks.
THE REASON IS FALSE, and the error is in four words: "in the SAME direction". Turgor pressure and wall pressure are EQUAL IN MAGNITUDE but act in OPPOSITE directions: TURGOR PRESSURE — exerted OUTWARDS by the cell contents against the wall WALL PRESSURE — exerted INWARDS by the rigid wall against the contents
It is precisely because they are opposite and equal that the cell is balanced. If they acted in the same direction they would add together, and nothing would be balanced at all — so the reason actually contradicts the assertion.
So the assertion is true and the reason false — option (A).
This is why a plant cell can sit in pure water without bursting, while an animal cell, having no wall, would swell and burst.