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Cell Nucleus Problem

Problem: what fraction of the volume of a cell nucleus is made up of DNA? (Basic).

1)DNA is cylindrical, with a radius of 7.9 x 10-4 microns and a length of 1.5 m (1.5 x 106 microns)

2)The nucleus is a sphere with a radius of 1.7 microns

To solve the problem, it is necessary to find the volume of the DNA cylinder and the volume of the spherical nucleus, then divide the volume of the DNA by the volume of the nucleus to get the percentage by volume of DNA in the nucleus.

The equations for finding the volume of a cylinder and the volume of a sphere are:

Next, the units must all be converted to microns and plugged into the equations:

DNA volume/nucleus volume = ? r2 h /(4.3 ? R3)

= 3 r2 h / 4 R3

= 3(7.9 x 10-4)2 x 1.5 x 106/

4(1.7)3 microns

This indicates that 14.3% of the cell nucleus is composed of DNA.

-the variables are the volume of DNA and the volume of the nucleus, which have been verified by quantitatively examining the size of the nucleus and the chromatin content (DNA) of the nucleus in electron micrographs.

-different variable, r and R, are used for the radii of the cylinder and the sphere so that the two can be differentiated from one another during calculations.

-the length of the strand of DNA is used as the height of the cylinder for the calculations, and has to be put into the same units as the rest of the date, i.e. microns. Because the units of the numerator and the denominator are the same, the final answer does not have units.

-the value of ? is irrelevant since it appears in both numerator and denominator.

ôBasic Algebra Power Fraction.ö 2005. 17 Aug. 2005.

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Cell Nucleus Problem. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 17:05, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1710022.html