Humans have 46 chromosomes in each somatic cell. a. How many chromosomes does a child receive from its father? b. How many autosomes and how many sex chromosomes are present in each somatic cell? c. How many chromosomes are present in a human ovum? d. How many sex chromosomes are present in a human ovum?

a. How many chromosomes does a child receive from its father?

Every person receives half of their chromosomes from their father and half from their mother. For that reason, if humans have 46 chromosomes in each somatic cell, 23 of them come from the father.

b. How many autosomes and how many sex chromosomes are present in each somatic cell?

Each somatic cell has 46 chromosomes in total; of which 22 pairs are autosomes and 1 pair are sex chromosomes. Therefore, 44 chromosomes are autosomes and 2 chromosomes are sex chromosomes (the X and/or Y chromosomes).

c. How many chromosomes are present in a human ovum?

The human gametes (ovum in women and sperm cell in men) have half of a somatic cell's genetic material, so that when they combine in a zygote to create their child, they form an initial cell with 46 chromosomes in total. The ovum therefore has 23 chromosomes: 22 autosomes and 1 sex chromosome.

d. How many sex chromosomes are present in a human ovum?

As I mentioned in the previous question, a human ovum has 1 sex chromosome. That way, when it combines with a sperm cell, which also has 1 sex chromosome, they form a zygote with a pair of sex chromosomes (one that comes from the mother and one from the father).