What is the reported thickness range of a plasma membrane?
A5 to 10 micrometres
B5 to 10 nanometres
C50 to 100 nanometres
D8 to 10 micrometres
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. 5 to 10 nanometres
1. Plasma membranes range from 5 to 10 nm in thickness.
2. A nanometre is a thousand times smaller than a micrometre, so the micrometre versions of the same numbers are off by a factor of one thousand.
3. A human red blood cell is about 8 micrometres wide, roughly 1,000 times wider than a plasma membrane, which fixes the scale.
4. Because of that comparison, 8 to 10 micrometres describes a whole red blood cell rather than a membrane.
_Source: OpenStax Biology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 5 "Structure and Function of Plasma Membranes", section 5.1 Components and Structure_
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