Principles of Biology by Brooker et al.

Answers to Quantitative Analysis’s Crunching the Numbers

Chapter 2

To begin, convert 5.5 mM to M units. 1 mM is equivalent to 0.001 M. Thus, 5.5 mM is equal to 0.0055 M. Remember that “M” stands for moles/liter, and that the molecular mass of glucose is 180 grams. To find the number of grams/liter blood, perform the following calculation: (0.0055 moles/liter) x (180 grams/mole) = 0.99 grams/liter, or approximately 1g/L.

Chapter 4

The volume of the spherical cell is 38,792m3. Its surface area is 5,542m2.

The volume of the cylindrical cell is also 38,792m3. However, its surface area is much larger, 25,918m2.

Chapter 6

The KMappwould be 0.65 mM.

Chapter 8

For Keisha, over 50% of her receptors would be bound by insulin. For Ryan, it would be much less than 50%. Ryan needs to take insulin injections so that his receptors are activated by insulin, enabling his muscle (and fat cells) to properly metabolize glucose.

Chapter 11

For humans: 22,000 x 0.70 x 5 = 77,000. These are the genes that are alternatively spliced. The other 30% are not, which equals 6600. If we add the two together, we get:

77,000 + 6600 = 83,600

For Drosophila: 14,000 x 0.07 x 3 = 2940. These are the genes that are alternatively spliced. The other 93% are not, which equals 13,920. If we add the two together, we get:

2940 + 13,920 = 15,960.

Chapter 12

The average mutation rate is 60 divided by 2 million, which equals 3 x 10-5.

If we conduct a (two-tailed) t test, the probability value, p, equals 0.00013. Because this value is much less than 0.01 (<1%), we reject the null hypothesis and accept the hypothesis that the control and mutagen-exposed samples are different from each other. These results suggest that mutagen X is a mutagen.

Chapter 13

The answer is 223, which equals 8,388,608. Crossing over would make this number even larger.

Chapter 16

EcoRI recognizes a 6-bp sequence. Because there are 4 types of bases, this sequence will occur on average 46, or every 4096 bp. If we divide 3 billion by 4096, we obtain an estimate of about 732,422 fragments of DNA.

Chapter 17

If we plug these values into the equation P = e- m, we get a value of 0.0083, or 0.83% of the genome. With a genome size of 4.6 Mb, this amounts to 38,180 bp.

Chapter 18

We first need to calculate the number of atoms of U-235 and Pb-207. The masses of U-235 and Pb-207 are approximately 235 g/mole and 207 g/mole, respectively. For U-235, the number of atoms in the sample is 0.11/235 x 6.022 x 1023 = 2.82 x 1020, which is N. For Pb-207, the number of atoms in the sample is 0.035/207 x 6.022 x 1023 = 1.02 x 1020. We assume that all of the Pb-207 is the decay product of U-235. Therefore, the number of original atoms of U-237 would be 2.82 x 1020 + 1.02 x 1020 = 3.84 x 1020, which is N0. We can plug these values into our equation and solve for t. Note: the half-life (T1/2) for U-235 is 710 million years. The answer is that the fossil is approximately 316 million years old.

Chapter 19

The value of 0.01 is a genotype frequency, such as q2. If we take the square root of this value, q = 0.1. Assuming that p and q are the only two alleles, q = 1 – p, so p = 0.9. The frequency of heterozygotes equals 2pq, which equals 2(0.1)(0.9) = 0.18, or 18%.

Chapter 21

The tree at the top would be the least likely because it contains the highest number of genetic changes compared to the other two trees.

Chapter 25

2,500,000

Chapter 29

(-0.15 MPa) + (+0.15 MPa) = 0 MPa

Reference to examples of water potential calculations shown in Figure 29.16 reveals that a water potential of 0 indicates that the cell is turgid.

Chapter 32:

The equilibrium potential is 60 mV x log10 [6.5/145] = -81 mV. This is different from the resting membrane potential of -70 mV, and therefore K+ is not in equilibrium. Under these conditions, K+ would diffuse out of the cell, because the concentration force is greater than the electrical force. In other words, the tendency for K+ to diffuse down its concentration gradient out of the cell is greater than the electrical attraction tending to draw K+ into the cell.

Chapter 36:

Heart mass varies roughly in proportion to body mass, such that an animal with twice the body mass of another will have a heart that is roughly twice the mass, too. However, heart rate varies inversely with body mass, and the relationship is not linear. In other words, smaller animals not only have greater heart rates than do larger animals, but the difference is not proportional. It is the very high heart rate, not a difference in mass, that enables a relatively greater cardiac output in small animals. This, in turn, helps match cardiac performance with the greater relative metabolic rate of smaller animals.

Chapter 37

At a PO2 of 35 mmHg and with increased CO2, hemoglobin would be approximately 58% saturated according to the representative curves shown in Figure 37.10a (in other words, hemoglobin would have unloaded about 42% of its O2). By contrast, at a PO2 of 30 mmHg but with decreased CO2, hemoglobin would be about 64% saturated (in this case, hemoglobin would have unloaded only 36% of its O2). This difference illustrates the significance of CO2 in promoting the release of O2 from hemoglobin. Rabbits are larger than mice and smaller than humans, of course, and therefore you would predict that their saturation curves would be between those of mice and humans. Assuming an average sized rabbit of about 2-3 kg, hemoglobin would be about 45% saturated at a PO2 of 30 mmHg.

Chapter 42

Quantitative Analysis

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Chapter 44

Quantitative Analysis

200; 100%

Chapter 45

Quantitative Analysis

  1. 0.693 and 0.638 respectively. Increased numbers of species does not automatically lead to increased species diversity.
  2. 9.815 and 7.668, a 28% difference.