Final answer:
In the cell cycle, a parent cell with 16 chromosomes divides to produce daughter cells that also have 16 chromosomes each. This is because mitosis ensures each daughter cell retains the same number of chromosomes as the parent cell.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the cell cycle of eukaryotic cells, including those of humans and other organisms, a parent cell undergoes cell division to produce daughter cells. During the process known as mitosis, which is typically followed by cytokinesis, the parent cell's DNA is replicated and evenly divided between the two new daughter cells. This ensures that each daughter cell retains the same number of chromosomes as the parent cell. Consequently, if a parent cell starts with 16 chromosomes, each resulting daughter cell will also have 16 chromosomes, preserving the chromosome number within each cell of an organism across generations.
Answer options that suggest a different number of chromosomes after cell division, such as 32, 48, or 64, would be incorrect, as they do not represent the conservation of genetic information during mitosis. In contrast, during meiosis, which produces gametes or sex cells, the number of chromosomes is halved. For example, if a muscle cell has 32 chromosomes (diploid), the gametes will have 16 chromosomes (haploid).