Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Mitosis.
There are 5 stages and i have to find out what %percentage of cells go in all 5.
How do i find out how much?

Hi allanzhivkovich,

I am not completely clear on what question you are asking exactly? Do you need to set up an experiment to figure this out, or is this part of another assignment where you have some information about certain cells being in various stages of mitosis.

A common activity for figuring this out involves using a slide of cells from an onion root where some of the cells are undergoing mitosis.
You would count the number of cells in each phase of mitosis (and the total number of cells)
The average time for onion root tip cells to complete the cell cycle is 24 hours.
To calculate the time for each stage:

% of cells a particular stage × 24 hours = number of hours in the stage

I hope this helps,
Elizabeth