Question

your biology teacher has asked you to do the impossible! you must measure the diameter of one algal cell. you are about to turn in a blank lab report when your friend mel comes along and says it is an easy task. first he shows you how to compute the diameter of your field of view. at 40x, your field of view is.50 mm or 500 um. if you look carefully you count 15 algal cells spanning the field of view. the diameter of one algal cell is approximately a 0.03 um b 1.50 um c 3.00 um d 33.3 um

Explanation:

Step1: Identify given values

Field of view diameter ($d_{fov}$) = 500 μm, Number of algal cells ($n$) = 15.

Step2: Formula for cell diameter

The diameter of one cell ($d_{cell}$) is the total field of view diameter divided by the number of cells. So, $d_{cell} = \frac{d_{fov}}{n}$.

Step3: Substitute values

Substitute $d_{fov} = 500$ μm and $n = 15$ into the formula: $d_{cell} = \frac{500}{15} \approx 33.3$ μm. Wait, no, wait. Wait, 500 divided by 15? Wait, 15 cells span 500 μm. So each cell's diameter is 500 / 15 ≈ 33.3? Wait, but let's check again. Wait, 500 divided by 15: 15*33 = 495, so 500/15 ≈ 33.3. So the diameter of one algal cell is approximately 33.3 μm.

Answer:

D. 33.3 um