3.1 Concepts of Cellular Structure

Question 1

cytology

Answer 1

the scientific study of cells

Question 2

Robert Hooke

Answer 2

17th-century scientist who coined the word “cellulae” after observing the empty cell walls of cork

Question 3

Theodor Schwann

Answer 3

studied animal tissues and concluded that all animals are made of cells

Question 4

spontaneous generation

Answer 4

the (false) idea that living things arise from nonliving matter

Question 5

Louis Pasteur

Answer 5

19th-century French microbiologist who disproved spontaneous generation

Question 6

cell

Answer 6

the simplest structural and functional unit of life

Question 7

cell theory

Answer 7

cells arise only from other cells, and cells are the simplest structural and functional unit of life

Question 8

squamous

Answer 8

thin, flat, scaly cells, e.g. esophageal and epidermal cells

Question 9

cuboidal

Answer 9

squarish cells equal in height and width, e.g. liver cells

Question 10

columnar

Answer 10

cells more tall than wide, e.g. gastrointestinal cells

Question 11

polygonal

Answer 11

irregularly angular shaped cells with 4+ sides

Question 12

stellate

Answer 12

starlike cells, e.g. nerve cells

Question 13

spheroidal to ovoid

Answer 13

round to oval, e.g. egg cells and white blood cells

Question 14

discoid

Answer 14

disc-shaped, e.g. red blood cells

Question 15

fusiform

Answer 15

spindle-shaped, elongated

Question 16

fibrous

Answer 16

long, slender, and threadlike, e.g. skeletal muscles and axons

Question 17

micrometer

Answer 17

the most useful unit of measure for designating cell sizes, equal to one-millionth of a meter

Question 18

cytoplasm

Answer 18

the fluid between the nucleus and surface membrane

Question 19

transmission electron microscope (TEM)

Answer 19

microscope invented in the mid-20th century that uses beams of electrons rather than light to see a cell’s ultrastructure

Question 20

resolution

Answer 20

the ability (of a microscope) to reveal detail

Question 21

scanning electron microscope (SEM)

Answer 21

microscope that produces dramatic three-dimensional images at high magnification and resolution but can only view surface features

Question 22

vascular corrosion cast

Answer 22

technique for visualizing the blood vessels of an organ

Question 23

cytoskeleton

Answer 23

a supportive framework of protein filaments and tubules in the cell’s cytoplasm

Question 24

organelles

Answer 24

structures that perform metabolic tasks for the cell

Question 25

inclusions

Answer 25

foreign matter or stored cell products

Question 26

cytosol

Answer 26

a clear, featureless, gelatinous colloid in which the organelles and other internal structures of a cell are embedded

Question 27

intracellular fluid (ICF)

Answer 27

the fluid contained in the cells

Question 28

extracellular fluid (ECF) / tissue (interstitial) fluid

Answer 28

any body fluid that is not contained in the cells