Question

If a cell with 42 chromosomes undergoes mitosis, how many chromosomes will each daughter cell have?

Answer 1

Answer:

42

Explanation:

If a cell has 42 pairs of chromosomes (n = 42), it has 84 chromosomes (2n = 84). At the end of mitosis, the two daughter cells will be exact copies of the original cell. Each daughter cell will have 84 chromosomes. At the end of meiosis II, each cell (i.e., gamete) would have half the original number of chromosomes, that is, 42 chromosomes.

A simple example is↓

The parent cell of 10 chromosomes will end up becoming two daughter cells that each have a copy of those 10 chromosomes.

The important fact about mitosis is that the daughter cells are identical to the parent cell. The daughter cells will have the same number of chromosomes as the parent cell.