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Why is an egg cell smooth and spherical?

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Final answer:

An egg cell is smooth and spherical to optimize distance for nutrient and waste exchange due to the surface area-to-volume ratio. The human egg is large because it provides essential cytoplasm and organelles for early embryonic development, unlike the much smaller sperm cell whose main contribution is genetic material.

Step-by-step explanation:

The reason an egg cell is smooth and spherical is due to its structural adaptation to optimize the cell's function. In biology, most cells tend to adopt a spherical shape since this is the shape with the largest surface area-to-volume ratio. This is advantageous because a sphere allows for the shortest distance for nutrients to diffuse into the cell and wastes to be expelled, ensuring efficient exchange of molecules at the periphery of the cell.

In addition, the human egg is a very large cell because it contains not just half the DNA needed for the next generation but also a significant amount of cytoplasm, organelles, and other materials essential for early embryonic development. It is designed to contribute almost all the cytoplasm a developing embryo will have during its initial days of development. Contrastingly, a human sperm cell is much smaller, has a tail for motility, and its primary contribution is the paternal set of chromosomes.

User Luda
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smoothness :
they seem smooth but actually they are not smooth but on microscopic view they show small pores and these pores are formed after embryo formation for exchange of gases ,,
shape:
they may be spherical , sub spherical and elongate ,, to reduce pressure by increasing their surface area ,, also to prevent rolling off from any upper place .. also it depends upon the mother's reproductive morphology..
User Harmlezz
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