Q2)To get a feeling for the size of cells and to practice the use if the metric system, consider the following:
a)the human brain weighs about 1Kg and contain about 10^11 cells. Calculate the average size of a brain cell(although we know that their size vary widly)?
b) Assuming that each cell is entirely filled with water (1 cm^3 of water weighs 1g). what would be the length of one side average-size brain cell if it were a simple cube?
C) if the cell were spread out as a thin layer that is only a single cell thick, how many pages of your cell biology textbook would this layer cover?
it has relastion between math &biolog
2006-09-23 10:08:14 · 3 answers · asked by Huda N 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
Part A is asking you to convert mass to volume. That's like asking how many meters are in a kilogram.
If you look at part B and assume that each cell is the same density as water, then it would be
10^3g/10^11cells = 10^(-8) gm/cell = 10(^-8) cc/cell which is nutz because
10^(-8) = 10^(-2) * 10(-2) * 10^(-2) which is a cube that is .1 mm (about 4 thousandths of an inch) and that is, I believe, one helluva lot bigger than the average neuron.
Part C simple makes no sense. " if the cell were spread out as a thin layer that is only a single cell thick"?????
It was a single cell to **begin** with (by the problems definition)???
It's no wonder that I went into Math instead of biology ☺
Doug
2006-09-23 10:34:58 · answer #1 · answered by doug_donaghue 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1/10^11 lol
one brain cell weighs 1e-12 kg.
assuming all the weight comes from the cells...
b is too ambiguous and relys heavily on so many assumptions o_O
2006-09-23 13:10:46 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Where is that kid from Jerry Maguire when you need him?
2006-09-23 16:30:26 · answer #3 · answered by PC_Load_Letter 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋