OpenStax Biology 2e Instructor Answer Guide
Biology 2e
Unit 2: The Cell
Chapter 4: Cell Structure
Visual Connection Questions
1. Prokaryotic cells are much smaller than eukaryotic cells. What advantages might small cell
size confer on a cell? What advantages might large cell size have?
Substances can diffuse more quickly through small cells. Small cells have no need for organelles
and therefore do not need to expend energy getting substances across organelle membranes.
Large cells have organelles that can separate cellular processes, enabling them to build
molecules that are more complex.
2. If the nucleolus were not able to carry out its function, what other cellular organelles would
be affected?
Free ribosomes and rough endoplasmic reticulum (which contains ribosomes) would not be
able to form.
, OpenStax Biology 2e Instructor Answer Guide
3. If a peripheral membrane protein were synthesized in the lumen (inside) of the ER, would it
end up on the inside or outside of the plasma membrane?
It would end up on the outside. After the vesicle passes through the Golgi apparatus and fuses
with the plasma membrane, it turns inside out.
Review Questions
4. When viewing a specimen through a light microscope, scientists use ________ to distinguish
the individual components of cells.
c. special stains
5. The ________ is the basic unit of life.
b. cell
6. Prokaryotes depend on ________ to obtain some materials and to get rid of wastes.
d. diffusion
7. Bacteria that lack fimbriae are less likely to ________.
a. adhere to cell surfaces
8. Which of the following organisms is a prokaryote?
d. E. coli
9. Which of the following is surrounded by two phospholipid bilayers?
d. the nucleoplasm
10. Peroxisomes got their name because hydrogen peroxide is:
b. produced during their oxidation reactions
Biology 2e
Unit 2: The Cell
Chapter 4: Cell Structure
Visual Connection Questions
1. Prokaryotic cells are much smaller than eukaryotic cells. What advantages might small cell
size confer on a cell? What advantages might large cell size have?
Substances can diffuse more quickly through small cells. Small cells have no need for organelles
and therefore do not need to expend energy getting substances across organelle membranes.
Large cells have organelles that can separate cellular processes, enabling them to build
molecules that are more complex.
2. If the nucleolus were not able to carry out its function, what other cellular organelles would
be affected?
Free ribosomes and rough endoplasmic reticulum (which contains ribosomes) would not be
able to form.
, OpenStax Biology 2e Instructor Answer Guide
3. If a peripheral membrane protein were synthesized in the lumen (inside) of the ER, would it
end up on the inside or outside of the plasma membrane?
It would end up on the outside. After the vesicle passes through the Golgi apparatus and fuses
with the plasma membrane, it turns inside out.
Review Questions
4. When viewing a specimen through a light microscope, scientists use ________ to distinguish
the individual components of cells.
c. special stains
5. The ________ is the basic unit of life.
b. cell
6. Prokaryotes depend on ________ to obtain some materials and to get rid of wastes.
d. diffusion
7. Bacteria that lack fimbriae are less likely to ________.
a. adhere to cell surfaces
8. Which of the following organisms is a prokaryote?
d. E. coli
9. Which of the following is surrounded by two phospholipid bilayers?
d. the nucleoplasm
10. Peroxisomes got their name because hydrogen peroxide is:
b. produced during their oxidation reactions
