Final answer:
The number of cells in a hummingbird can be approximated by understanding that the average cell is ten times the mass of a bacterium and using the human body as a reference point. Given the size difference between humans and hummingbirds, and the fact that humans have about 100 trillion cells, the most reasonable approximation for the number of cells in a hummingbird is 1 × 10¹² cells.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate the number of cells in a hummingbird, we need to know the mass of a hummingbird and the mass of its average cell. While the question does not provide an explicit mass for a hummingbird, it does make a crucial assumption: the mass of an average cell is ten times the mass of a bacterium. From related information, if we assume an average bacterium has a mass on the order of 10⁻¹⁵ kg, and a human body is made up of roughly 10ⁱ´ cells with each human cell weighing 10 times a bacterium, we can make some comparisons.
A human body consists of about 10ⁱ´ (100 trillion) cells. If each of those cells is 10 times the mass of a bacterium, we can assume that a cell weighs about 10⁻¹⁴ kg. Since a human body weighs about 70 kg, we can make a rough estimation that a hummingbird, which is significantly smaller than a human, would have fewer cells. Considering the options provided, option (d) 1 × 10¹² cells is the most reasonable approximation for the number of cells in a hummingbird. For humans, considering the assumption and the provided data, we maintain the estimation of 10ⁱ´ cells, which aligns with scientific consensus on the number of cells in the human body.