A human is diploid because we have two sets of chromosomes. Which statement supports this?

A human is diploid because we have two sets of chromosomes. Which statement supports this?

• A. It contains two complete sets of chromosomes
• B. It has half the chromosome number of a parent cell
• C. It includes two nonhomologous chromosome sets
• D. It forms gametes during meiosis

Answer: (A)

Diploidy means having two complete sets of chromosomes, one inherited from each parent. In humans, this is seen in somatic cells that carry two copies of every chromosome, totaling 46 and organized as 23 homologous pairs. Describing two complete sets explicitly captures that paired structure, where each chromosome has a matching partner with the same genes in the same order, though possibly different variants. The other ideas don’t align with being diploid: half the chromosome number points to a haploid state, not the diploid condition; two sets that are nonhomologous would imply the sets aren’t matched copies of the same chromosomes, which isn’t how diploidy works; and forming gametes during meiosis produces haploid cells, not the diploid state itself.

Diploidy means having two complete sets of chromosomes, one inherited from each parent. In humans, this is seen in somatic cells that carry two copies of every chromosome, totaling 46 and organized as 23 homologous pairs. Describing two complete sets explicitly captures that paired structure, where each chromosome has a matching partner with the same genes in the same order, though possibly different variants. The other ideas don’t align with being diploid: half the chromosome number points to a haploid state, not the diploid condition; two sets that are nonhomologous would imply the sets aren’t matched copies of the same chromosomes, which isn’t how diploidy works; and forming gametes during meiosis produces haploid cells, not the diploid state itself.