Chapter 5 - Fundamental Unit of Life

Exercise Questions
 

Q.1     Make a comparison and write down ways in which plant cells are different from animal
cells.
Answer

Plant cell Animal cell

Cell wall present Cell wall absent

Plastids present Plastids absent

Vacuole is usually very large and

Vacuoles are much smaller and may be absent
single

Q.2     How is a prokaryotic cell different from a eukaryotic cell?

Answer

Prokaryotic cell Eukaryotic cell

Size : generally small (1 – 10µ) 1µ (micron) =

Size : generally large (5– 100µ)
10–6m

Nuclear region is now defined and Nuclear region is well defined and surrounded
nuclear membrane is absent by  a nuclear membrane.

Single chromosome More than one chromosome

Membrane bound cell organelles absent Membrane bound cell organelles present 

Q.3     What would happen if the plasma membrane ruptures or breaks down?
Answer     Plasma membrane provides a container for the cell organelles and cytoplasm. Moreover,
plasma membrane also protects the contents of a cell from external environment. In case the
plasma membrane ruptures or breaks down, the cell contents would be exposed to the external
environment. This would prove lethal for the cell and the cell would cease to exist.

Q.4     What would happen to the life of a cell if there was no Golgi apparatus?
Answer     Golgi apparatus plays the important role of packaging various substances for further use
or for storage. If there was no Golgi apparatus, various substances would not be in a position to be
transformed in proper forms for further use. Certain substances; like protein and lipid are important
for the formation of plasma membrane and hence absence of Golgi apparatus will hamper the
formation of new cells during cell division.

Q.5     Which organelle is known as the powerhouse of the cell? Why?

Answer     Mitochondrion is known as the powerhouse of the cell. The reason for this is the fact that
cellular respiration takes place in mitochondria and the energy released after that gets stored in
mitochondria; in the form of ATP. These ATP molecules are utilized on an SOS basis.

Q.6     Where do the lipids and proteins constituting the cell membrane get synthesised?
Answer      Lipids are synthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum. Protein is synthesized in ribosomes
which are usually present on the rough ER.

Q.7     How does an Amoeba obtain its food?

Answer     Amoeba obtains its food through a process called phagocytosis. The cell membrane of
amoeba is projected into numerous finger-like outgrowths; called pseudopodia. Amoeba surrounds
a food particle by pseudopodia and makes a food vacuole; after engulfing the food.

Q.8     What is osmosis?

Answer      The movement of water from high concentration to low concentration through a semi-
permeable membrane is called osmosis.

Q.9 Carry out the following osmosis experiment Take four peeled potato halves and scoop each
one out to make potato cups. One of these potato cups should be made from a boiled potato. Put
each potato cup in a trough containing water. Now,

(a) Keep cup A empty.

(b) Put one teaspoon sugar in cup B.

(c) Put one teaspoon salt in cup C.

(d) Put one teaspoon sugar in the boiled potato cup D. Keep this setup for two hours. Then
observe the four potato cups and answer the following

(i) Explain why water gathers in the hollowed portion of B and C.

(ii) Why is potato A necessary for this experiment

(iii) Explain why water does not gather in the hollowed out portions of A and D.

Answer
 (i) Water gathers in the hollowed portion of B and C because of the process of endosmosis (moving
in of the solvent). A potato is made up of several cells, and the cell membranes are selectively
permeable. As the cups B and C are filled with sugar and salt respectively and their outer part is in
contact with the water, the concentration of water outside the cups is higher than inside the cups,
so water moves from its higher concentration towards the lower concentration, i.e., inside the cup.

(ii) Potato A acts as a control of the experiment. It is very necessary for comparing the results of the
experiment and shows that if the conc. of water is same on both sides, there will be no movement of
water.

(iii) Water does not gather in the hollowed out portions of A as it does not contain hypertonic
solution so there is no concentration difference. Water does not gather in the cup D as the cells of
boiled potato are dead and hence no osmosis occurs.

Q.10 Which type of cell division is required for growth and repair of body and which type is
involved in formation of gametes?

Answer Mitosis is the type of cell division that is involved in the growth and repair of the
body whereas Meiosis is a type of cell division that results in the formation of gametes.