Cell Structure (Edexcel GCSE Biology: Combined Science)

Exam Questions

2 hours18 questions
1a
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1 mark

State what type of cell bacterial cells are classified as.

1b
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2 marks

Yeasts are microorganisms that are used in the brewing and baking industries.

A yeast cell is shown in Figure 1 below.

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Figure 1

State two ways in which the structure of a yeast cell differs from the structure of a bacterial cell.

1c
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1 mark

Some types of plant cell can produce glucose.

Suggest why yeast cells cannot produce glucose.

1d
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1 mark

State which one of the following sub-cellular structures is found in animal cells.

Flagellum          Cell wall          Mitochondria          Plasmid DNA

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2a
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6 marks

Figure 1 shows a list of sub-cellular structures and different cell types. Ribosomes are found in all three cell types.

Sub-cellular structure Bacterial cell Plant cell Animal cell
Ribosomes
Cell Membrane      
Permanent vacuole      
Cellulose cell wall      
Mitochondria      

Figure 1

(i)
Complete the empty cells in Figure 1, if the sub-cellular structure is present, place a tick () in the cell and if it is not present place a cross (×)
(4)
(ii)
Give an explanation for why all the cell types contain ribosomes.

(2)
2b
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2 marks

Describe the role of the permanent vacuole in plant cells.

2c
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2 marks

Figure 2 shows some muscle cells which contain many mitochondria.

muscle-cells

Figure 2

Give a reason why muscle cells contain many mitochondria.

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3a
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4 marks

Figure 1 shows a plant cell as seen under a light microscope.fig-10-1bio-2f-june19-qp-gcse-bio

Figure 1

Draw this plant cell in the box below.

Label three parts of this cell.















3b
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1 mark

Mitochondria cannot be seen with a light microscope.

What is the function of mitochondria in a plant cell?

  A respiration
  B make proteins
  C photosynthesis
  D store water 

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4a2 marks

Animals and plants are made of cells.

Figure 1 shows two types of cells from a human.

fig-1-1bio-1f-nov2021-qp-gcse-bio

Figure 1

(i)
Which part of the cheek cell is labelled W?

(1)

  A cell wall
  B nucleus
  C cell membrane
  D cytoplasm

(ii)
Which labelled part of the sperm cell is also found in the cheek cell?

(1)

  A nucleus
  B tail
  C middle piece
  D acrosome

4b1 mark

Name the part of a plant cell that gives the cell support and protection.

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5a
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3 marks

The diagram below shows an image of a plant cell.

plant-cell

Name structures P, Q and R.

5b
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2 marks
(i)
Name one structure that is visible in the diagram that you did not identify in your answer to part (a). 

(1)

(ii)

State the function of the structure named in part (i)

(1)

5c
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1 mark

Which of the following structures is not found in a prokaryotic cell?

  A A cell wall
  B Chloroplasts
  C Plasmids
  D Circular DNA

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1a
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2 marks

Cells can be specialised to perform a particular function.

Human gametes are specialised cells adapted to their role in fertilisation.

(i)
State whether human gametes are haploid or diploid.
(1)
(ii)
Explain why the nucleus of a sperm cell needs to have half the number of chromosomes compared to other human cells.
(1)
1b
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3 marks

Describe three adaptations of a human sperm cell that enables it to carry out its role in fertilisation.

1c
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4 marks

Human egg cells are specialised for the function of propagation of life. One adaptation is that they contain a predominantly large cytoplasm.

(i)
Explain why human egg cells have such a large cytoplasm.
(2)
(ii)
Fertilisation occurs in the oviduct but the fertilised egg needs to travel to the uterus.
Explain how the epithelial cells of the oviduct are adapted to transport the fertilised egg.

(2)

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2a
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2 marks

Explain why the following statement about light microscopes is incorrect.

.
As the magnification increases, the resolution also increases.
2b
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2 marks

Figure 1 below shows a cross section of a leaf taken using an optical microscope with a magnification of ×250. 

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Figure 1

The image size of a palisade cell is given as 2 cm as marked by the scale bar line A on Figure 1. Use the information provided to calculate the actual length of the palisade cell. Give your answer in μm.

2c
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2 marks

Figure 2 below shows an image of a bacterial cell taken with an electron microscope.

picture-2

Figure 2

The width of the bacterial cell is estimated at 1 µm. The bacterial cell is 2 cm wide in the image.

Calculate the magnification of the image.

2d
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3 marks

Describe how electron microscopes are different to light microscopes. 

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3a
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3 marks

Place the following values in order from smallest to largest size.

A 10 mm, 30 µm, 2000 nm.
B 40 nm, 1.4 mm, 4 µm.
C 0.4 mm, 900 nm, 4 µm.

3b
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1 mark

Figure 1 shows information about the magnification of a light microscope.

Magnification of eyepiece lens Magnification of objective lens Total magnification
10 x   40 x
10 x 10 x  
10 x 40 x  

Figure 1

Complete the empty cells in Figure 1. 

3c
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1 mark

A mitochondria has a diameter of 1 µm. What is the diameter in nm?

3d
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2 marks

The diameter of a yeast cell is 10 µm and the diameter of a bacterial flagellum is 10 nm. How many orders of magnitude difference exist between the two diameters...

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4
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2 marks

The potatoes of a potato plant develop underground.

Explain one difference in the sub-cellular structures in a cell in the potato and those in a cell in the leaf of the potato plant.

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5
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2 marks

Figure 1 shows a root tip with cells in different stages of mitosis.

The image was magnified 400 ×.fig-12-1bio-1h-june18-qp-gcse-bio

Figure 1

Explain how a magnification of 400 × can be obtained using the lenses on a light microscope.

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6a
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4 marks

A student cut a piece of onion and placed it on a microscope slide.

The student then placed this slide on the stage of a light microscope and looked through the eyepiece.

 No cells could be seen in the piece of onion.

 Explain two ways this method could be improved to see details of the onion cells.

1. .....................................................
2. ......................................................
6b
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6 marks

Figure 1 shows mitosis occurring in some plant cells.fig-7-1bio-1f-june18-qp-gcse-bio

Figure 1

(i)
The cells in Figure 1 were taken from a rapidly growing part of a plant.

Which part of a plant has rapidly dividing cells?
(1)
  A chloroplast
  B epithelium
  C meristem
  D vacuole 

(ii)
Which stage of mitosis is shown in cell R?
(1)
  A prophase
  B metaphase
  C anaphase
  D telophase 

(iii)
Describe two genetic similarities of the new cells that would be produced by cell Q in Figure 1.
(2)
1 ...........................................
2 ...........................................

(iv)
The cells in Figure 1 were heated in hydrochloric acid.

State two safety precautions that should be taken when heating hydrochloric acid.
(2)
1.............................................. 
2..............................................
6c
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2 marks

Explain one advantage of using an electron microscope to observe plant cells.

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7
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6 marks

Figure 1 shows a cyanobacterium magnified 50000 times.

The line AB shows the diameter of the bacterial cell.

1-1-image-1
Figure 1

(i)
Calculate the actual diameter of the cyanobacterium. A ruler has been added to the image in Figure 1 to help you.

Give your answer in micrometres (μm).

(3)

........................................ μm

(ii)
Bacterial cells contain plasmids.

Describe three other features of a bacterial cell.

(3)

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8
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4 marks

Figure 1 shows two sperm cells.fig-9-1bio-1f-june19-qp-gcse-bio

Figure 1
(i)
Name structure Z.
(1)

(ii)
Sperm B has a larger middle section than sperm A.

Explain why sperm B will be more likely to fertilise an egg than sperm A if they were both released at the same time
(3)

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1a
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4 marks

Figure 1 shows some muscle cells and their sub cellular structures.

Muscle cells, IGCSE & GCSE Biology revision notes

Figure 1

(i)

Describe the function of the nucleus.

(2)

(ii)

Suggest why the muscle cell has so many mitochondria.

(2)

1b
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2 marks

Mitochondria are organelles that are too small to be seen using a light microscope.

The electron micrograph shows a mitochondrion that has been magnified.

The actual length of this mitochondrion at the point being measured is 5 μm.mitochondria

[1 μm = 0.001 mm]

Calculate the magnification of this electron micrograph.

1c
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4 marks

The table gives information about mitochondria in different human cells.

Cell Mean number of mitochondria per cell Mean volume of cell in µm3 Mean number of mitochondria per µm3
Heart muscle 5 000 15 000  
Sperm 75 30 2.50
Egg 600 000 4 000 000 0.15

(i)

What is the mean number of mitochondria per μm3 in a heart muscle cell?

(1)

  A 0.33
  B 3
  C 10 000
  D 75 000 000

(ii)

Comment on the differences in the data for the sperm and for the egg.

(3)

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2a
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2 marks

The image below is an electron microscope photograph of a cell.

4-2-q1b-plant-cell-electron-micrograph---sq

(i)

Name the group of organisms from which the cell shown in the image has been taken.

(1)

(ii)

Explain how you identified the group of organisms in part (i).

(1)

2b
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3 marks

Structure Y in part (a) is a starch granule.

Explain why structure Y is present inside structure X in the image in part (a).

2c
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3 marks

Name three structures that are not clearly identifiable in the image in part (a) that you would expect to find inside cells from this group of organisms.

2d
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2 marks

The cell in part (a) has been magnified 7.5 x 103 times, and the image of the nucleus has a diameter of 6.5 cm.

Use the formula below to calculate the actual diameter of the nucleus. Give your answer in μm.

Actual space diameter space equals fraction numerator image space diameter over denominator magnification end fraction

Note that 1 μm = 0.001 mm 

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3a
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3 marks

The image below is a representation of an electron microscope photograph of part of a sperm cell.

l78Q64BN_micrograph

Name structures XY and Z labelled in the image.

3b
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2 marks

Label two additional features on the image in part (a) with descriptions that explain how the features aid the sperm cell in its function.

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4a
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2 marks

The diagram below shows three different cells.

cell-comparisoncell-comparison-2

Calculate the size ratio of the bacterial cell compared to the liver cell and mesophyll cell.

4b
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3 marks

The electron microscope image below shows a section from the inside of a liver cell...

hepatocito-tem-1

Bochimoto H, Matsuno N, Ishihara Y, Shonaka T, Koga D, Hira Y, et al., CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

(i)

Name the organelles indicated by X.

(1)

(ii)

Use the information in the image to suggest the possible cell activities that take place inside a liver cell.

(2)

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5a
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4 marks

A group of scientists carried out a study to investigate the starch content of roots in a species of grass at four points throughout the year. 

Their results can be seen in the graph below.

root-starch-2

(i)

Explain why the grass roots contain starch.

(2)

(ii)

Explain how the starch found in the roots of grass species helps to support the growth of the grasses.

(2)
5b
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5 marks
(i)

Calculate the percentage change in stored starch from January to October in the graph in part (b).

(2)

(ii)

Suggest an explanation for the change calculated in part (i).

(3)

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