The number of mitotic division that must occur in a cell of the root tip to form 256 cells is

Options

A. 256
B. 128
C. 7
D. 8

Answer

To determine the number of mitotic divisions required to form 256 cells from a single cell, we can follow these steps:

### Step-by-Step Solution:

1. **Understanding Mitosis**: Each mitotic division results in the doubling of the number of cells. This means that if you start with one cell, after one division, you will have 2 cells. After two divisions, you will have 4 cells, and so on.

2. **Mathematical Representation**: The number of cells after 'n' mitotic divisions can be represented mathematically as:
\[ \text{Number of cells} = 2^n \]
where \( n \) is the number of mitotic divisions.

3. **Setting Up the Equation**: We need to find \( n \) such that:
\[ 2^n = 256 \]

4. **Finding the Value of n**: To solve for \( n \), we can express 256 as a power of 2:
\[ 256 = 2^8 \]
This means:
\[ 2^n = 2^8 \]
Therefore, by equating the exponents, we find:
\[ n = 8 \]

5. **Conclusion**: The number of mitotic divisions that must occur in a cell of the root tip to form 256 cells is 8.

### Final Answer:
The number of mitotic divisions required is **8**.

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