Talk:Intravenous water drip

I realize this is fiction and we aren't to apply real-life physics to articles, but wouldn't an infusion of 100% sterile water be a very good way to kill them through osmotic hemolysis (bursting of blood cells due to excessive water entering the cell)? IV drips are typically normal saline (or NS), a .9% solution of sodium chloride in sterile water, which is isotonic (possesses the same osmotic pressure gradient) with red blood cells, being virtually the same as the body's natural blood plasma. 100% water is hypotonic, meaning the osmotic pressure of that medium is higher than that of the cell, which causes more water to rush into the cell, potentially filling it beyond capacity and destroying it from the inside out.

Wikipedia has a nifty diagram on its osmosis and osmotic pressure pages.

Any reason given why this doesn't seem to be true in the world of SW? Or is it just a case of the author not doing their homework? Or am I actually wrong?

72.200.151.13 03:41, February 21, 2014 (UTC)