What Does Hypertonic Mean?
In a solution which is hypertonic, the total dissolved solutes is greater than the dissolved solutes of another solution. In plant cells, the hypertonic environment would be all solute particles and the solution they are dissolved in, on the outside of a plant cell. An osmotic gradient is the difference in concentration of dissolved solutes on either side of a semipermeable membrane. For instance, a plant cell's cell wall is a semipermeable membrane which allows for osmotic pressure, or the pressure of water, to flow from a concentration of high pressure to a concentration of low pressure through the membrane.
