Download CELL math problems

CELL MATH
Math Problem 1
(see cell sizes below)
Here’s a website with excellent graphics on the size of the cell.
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/scale/
If an average plant cell is 30 times 10-3 mm, then it’s .030 mm in diameter
and if the nucleus is 7.5 times 10-3 mm, then it’s .0075 mm in diameter
and if the mitochondria is .2 times 10-3 mm wide and 3 times 10-3 mm long,
that works out to a mitochondria which is .0002 mm times .003 mm long.
and if the cell wall is 1 times 10-3 mm wide, then it’s .001 mm thick.
Can we scale this up to something we can see a little better? Suppose the cell
we want to build is 300 cm by 300 cm. Now that would be a large cell! What
would each of the above parts scale up to be?
size of the scaled cell is 300 cm. (that’s three meter sticks long!)
size of the scaled nucleus =
size of the scaled mitochondria =
size of the scaled cell wall =
Math problem 2
Billy discovers a new type of life on planet Mars. The rover digs up a single cell.
Measurements indicate that the actual cell is .060 mm in diameter. The nucleus
is 1/4 the diameter of the cell. The cell wall of the martian cell is 2/10 of the cell’s
diameter, which your team thinks is freakishly thick (but it is what it is!) The
mitochondria is 1/2 the diameter of the nucleus.
What are the dimensions of the Martian cell? Show your answers in mm and
show your work to justify your answers. (For example, you might want to use
fraction bars)
Math Problem 3
Keri builds a model of a cell in the gym which has a diameter of 6 meters. She
wants the nucleus to be 1/5 the diameter of the cell, and wants its mitochondria
to be 1/3 the diameter of the nucleus. Keri thinks the cell wall should be 1/60 the
diameter of the cell. What dimensions should each part of her model cell be?
Show your answers in meters and draw and label her cell to support and justify
your work!
Math Problem 4
Ronnie, Jenny and D’Arcy are sitting in the cafeteria telling tall tales. They have
been studying DNA in science class, and understand that it is in a coil. Ronnie
brags that his DNA would stretch all the way across Tennessee if it were
uncoiled. Jenny says, “ That’s nothing! My DNA would stretch from Earth to the
Moon!” “You think that’s special?” D’Arcy brags. “My DNA would stretch out
from the Earth to the Sun. Take that!”
Which of these braggarts is telling the truth? A body has 100 trillion cells. That’s
100,000,000,000,000. Each cell has 6 feet of DNA in the nucleus if the DNA is
stretched out.
Tennessee is 420 miles from east to west. It is 238,000 miles from Earth to the
Moon. It is 93,000,000 miles from Earth to the Sun.
Math Problem 4
Ronnie, Jenny and D’Arcy are sitting in the cafeteria telling tall tales. They have
been studying DNA in science class, and understand that it is in a coil. Ronnie
brags that his DNA would stretch all the way across Tennessee if it were
uncoiled. Jenny says, “ That’s nothing! My DNA would stretch from Earth to the
Moon!” “You think that’s special?” D’Arcy brags. “My DNA would stretch out
from the Earth to the Sun. Take that!”
Which of these braggarts is telling the truth? A body has 100 trillion cells. That’s
100,000,000,000,000. Each cell has 6 feet of DNA in the nucleus if the DNA is
stretched out.
Tennessee is 420 miles from east to west. It is 238,000 miles from Earth to the
Moon. It is 93,000,000 miles from Earth to the Sun.
ANSWERS:
6 feet x 100,000,000,000,000 = 600,000,000,000,000 feet
600,000,000,000,000 / 5280* = 113,636,363,636 miles
*the number of feet in a mile
So....regarding trips to the sun
113,636,363,636/93,000,000 = 1221.9 Divide by 2 to find the number of trips to
the sun and back.
1221.9/2 = 610.9 round trips to the sun
The total length of the DNA in the human body is approximately 113,636,363,636
miles long, which would stretch approximately 610.9 times to the sun and back.
It goes without saying that the DNA would stretch out to the moon, too. Ditto for
the DNA stretching out from one end of Tennessee to the other.