149k views
5 votes
If the cycle length is set to 10 hours, what is the approximate length of time each cell spends in prophase?

a. 1 hour
b. 2 hours
c. 5 hours
d. 10 hours

User Wendigo
by
8.0k points

1 Answer

4 votes

Final answer:

In a 10-hour cell cycle, the approximate length of time each cell spends in prophase is less than one hour, and the closest answer would be 1 hour, which corresponds to option A.

Step-by-step explanation:

Estimating the Length of Prophase in the Cell Cycle

The cell cycle length is a sequence of events through which a cell passes to divide and replicate. While a typical human cell might take about 24 hours to complete this cycle, prophase, which is part of the mitotic phase of the cell cycle, is shorter. When a cell cycle lasts 24 hours, the mitotic (M) phase lasts around 0.5 hours. If the cycle length were set to 10 hours, each phase would correspondingly take a shorter amount of time, pro rata.

Therefore, to estimate the time a cell spends in prophase for a 10-hour cycle, we need to calculate it about the 24-hour cycle. Given that the M phase takes 0.5 hours out of 24 hours, the proportion of the M phase relative to the entire cell cycle is 0.5/24. If we apply this ratio to the 10-hour cycle, the M phase for a 10-hour cycle would be (0.5/24) * 10 hours, which is approximately 0.208 hours.

Since prophase is the first stage of mitosis and takes up a significant portion of the M phase, we can approximate the length of time each cell spends in prophase by considering it would be less than the entire M phase duration of 0.208 hours. This brings us to conclude that in a 10-hour cycle, prophase would last less than one hour. Therefore, the closest answer would be option A, which is about 1 hour.

User David Manheim
by
7.9k points

No related questions found

Welcome to QAmmunity.org, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of our community.

9.4m questions

12.2m answers

Categories