Just a few questions I'm having difficulty finding the answer to. I hope the resident experts can help me out.

 

When cells divide, do both cells contain equal amounts of matter, do they weigh the same and do they each take up the same volume? Does a cell have to double its weight before dividing?

 

The answer sounds obvious, exact replication, but is it?

In mitosis or binary fission a cell increases it's size and duplicates it's genetic material before splitting into two equally sized cells. The two daughter cells are identical unless a mutation occured in the process of duplicating the genetic information.

Mitosis will produce genetically indentical cells, but not always physiologically identical cells. A simple example is that single celled yeasts reproduce asexually by budding off smaller daughter cells. In our body many uneven division occur, and this aids in producing the variety of different cell types.

Speaking like a true ignoramus I'll continue, don't know why I'm even thinking about this stuff.

 

Take an egg for instance. When laid the egg contains a large one celled organism. I would have to assume for every egg laying creature that when the cells divide they get smaller until a certain size is reached since there is only so much matter and room in an eggshell. There must be some balancing factor that allows all cells to maintain a minimum size. At minimum size they cannot divide further or do all cells lose a little to each other when division occurs?

 

Just as an afterthought....are all creatures born from an egg fully formed within when hatched or are they equipped with just the basics...stomach, lungs, brain?

The cell isnt contained within the shell, that is the cell, one egg one cell.

Mitosis occurs. Then then the cell regains its former mass/increases in size, and tehn it happens again, mitosis doesnt occur as soon as its finished