FUNDAMENTAT UNIT OF tIFE

1. Who discovered cells and how ?

A. Robert Hooke discovered cells for the first time in a cork slice with the help of a primitive
microscope.

2. Why is the cell called the structural and functional unit of life ?

A . cell is called the structural and functional unit of life because all organisms
are composed of one ( or
) more cells, and all vital functions of an organisms occur within cells. Cells contain the hereditary
information necessary for regulating cell functions and for transmitting information to
the next
generation of cells.

3 . How do substances like cOz and water move in and out of the cell ? Discuss.
A ' Substances like COz move in and out of the cell by a process called DIFFUSION from
a region of higher
concentration to a region where its concentration is low. The water moves in and out
of the cell by the
process of OSMOSIS.

4. why is the Plasmamembrane called a selectively permeable membrane ?

.A The Plasma membrane allows ( or ) permits the entry ( or ) exit of some materials in and
out of the
cell and prevents movement of some other materials through it. Hence it is called a
selectively
permeable membrane.

5' write differences between prokaryotic cell and Eukaryotic cell ?

A.

PROKARYOTIC CELL EUKARYOTIC CELL

1. Size of the cell is generally small ( 1--10 pm. 1. Size of the cell is generally large ( 5- 1OO )

2. Nuclear region is poorly defined due to the 2. Nuclear region is well defined and surrounded by
Absence of Nuclear membrane and known as a nuclear membrane.
NUCLEOID.

3. lt contains single chromosome. 3, lt contains more than one chromosome.

4. Nucleof us is absent . 4. Nucleolus is present.

5' Membrane bound cell organelles absent. 5. Cell organelles such as Mitochondria, plastids,
Endoplasmic reticulum, golgi complex, lysosomes,
Peroxisomes etc are present.

6' Cell division takes place by fission (or ) 6. Cell division occurs by mitotic ( or ) meiotic cell
Budding. Division

7. Centrioles absent. 7. Centrioles are present in animal cells.

8. Prokaryotic cells are found in bacteria, g. Eukaryotic cells are.found in fungi, plant
and .

Blue green algae. Animal cells.

5. How does an Amoeba obtain its food ?
 A . Amoeba obtains its food by the process of ENDOCYTOSIS. In this process the
cell engulfs the food and
other materials from its external environment due to the flexibility of the cell membrane.

7. What is OSMOSTS ?

A . lt is the passage of solvent from a region of high concentration to a region of low

concentration
through a semipermeable.

8. What is Plasmolysis ?

A. When a living plant cell is kept in a hypertonic soluton , it looses water through osmosis,
there is
shrinkage of contents of the cell away from the cell wall. This phenomenon is known
as plasmolysis.

9. Draw a neat and well labelled diagram of a typical prokaryotic cell.

10. What will happen if we put an animal cell (or ) Plant cell into a solution of sugar in water ?

A. lf we put an animal cell into a solution of sugar, one of the following three things may happen

1 ' lf the medium surrounding the cell has higher water concentration than the cell then
the cell will gain
water by osmosis.

2. lf the medium has exactly the same water concentration as the cell, there will be no net movement
of water across the cell membrane.

3. lf the medium has a lower concentration of water than the cell, then the cell will loose water by
osmosis.

11' lf Cells of onion peel and RBC are separately kept in Hypotonic solution. What among the following
will take place ? Explain the reason for your answer.

a) Both the cells will swell.

B ) RBc will burst easily while cells of onion peel will resists the bursting to some extent.

c) a and b both are correct.

d) RBC and Onion peel cells will behave similarly.

 A : B) onion peel has cell wall and RBC does not have cell wall thus, RBC
will burst as there is no
mechanism to restrict entry of water into them . But
onion fieel cells do not burst as cell wall is rigid.
L2) A person takes concentrated solution of salt, after sometime,
he start! vomiting what is the
phenomenon responsible for such situation ? Explain
.

A' The concentrated salt solution caused irritation and

excessive dehydration in the stomach due to
exosmosis' This makes the person uncomfortable causing
reverse movements and thus vomiting.

L3 why does the skin of your finger shrink when you wash clothes for a long
time ?

A: soap solution is very concentrated hypertonic solution,

so water moves out of your finger cells by
osmosis' Because of this ,the skin over the fingers shrinks
while washing clothes for a long time.

14.) What is a Gene ?

A: Structural and functional unit of D . N . A is called gene.

15) what does DNA Molecule contain ? Name the function?lsegment

of DNA .ln which form is the DNA
present in a cell when the cell is not dividing ?

A' DNA molecules contain the information neiessary for

construction and organisation of cells.
Functional segments of DNA are called Genes. ln a cell
which is not dividing DNA is present as a part of
chromatin material.

16) What are Viruses ?

A Viruses are a cellular organisms which lack any membranes

and hence do not show any characteristics
of life, until they enter a living body and use its cell machinery
to multiply.