Question

Shivani was working on a mammalian cell which had 6.6 x 10${}^9$ base pairs in DNA. She found out that the distance between the consecutive base pairs was 3.4 Å. What will be the total length of DNA?

• A. 8 m
• B. 2.8 m
• C. 2.2 m
• D. 3 m

Answer 1

The correct option is C 2.2 m

The information available with Shivani is:
Number of base pairs in mammalian cell $=6.6\times {10}^9$
The distance between the two base pair is $=3.4\AA =3.4\times {10}^{-10}m=0.34\times {10}^{-9}m$

Length of DNA = Number of base pairs x Distance between the two base pair
$=6.6\times {10}^9\times 0.34\times {10}^{-9}m$ $=2.2m$