Chapter-05 The Fundamental unit of Life NCERT Solutions

NCERT in-text questions page 24

Q. 1: Who discovered cells, and how?

Ans: Robert Hooke first discovered cells in 1665. He observed the cells in a cork slice with the help of a self designed primitive microscope.

Q. 2: Why is the cell called the structural and functional unit of life?

Ans: The cell is called the structural and functional unit of life because every organism is made up of cells. Each living cell has the capacity to perform certain basic functions like producing energy, making new material in the cell, repairing the cell, clearing up the waste material from the cell, and so on that are essential functions of all living organisms.

NCERT in-text questions page 61

1. How do substances like CO2 and water move in and out of the cell? Discuss.

2. Why is the plasma membrane called a selectively permeable membrane?