Question

How many cells does metaphase have?

Answer 1

1)Metaphase is one of the parts or phases of the M phase of the cell cycle that describes cell division.
2)Mitosis is known as equational division.

Complete answer:
1)The mitosis consists of two phases that are M phase and the interphase. The M phase consists of four stages that are prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase. The interphase consists of $G_1$ , $G_2$ phase, and S phase. The main cell division occurs only in the M phase and thus interphase is termed as the gap phase or the rest phase.

2)The prophase is the first stage of mitosis that occurs before the metaphase and the prophase involves condensation of DNA, the nuclear envelope disappears, and most importantly the cell is prepared to undergo division. The metaphase involves the binding of chromosomes at the point of centromere to the spindle fibers. This aligns all the chromosomes in a single plane that is known as the metaphase plate. But the cell is not yet divided as the cell completely divides to give two cells in the telophase stage only.

3)Therefore, the number of cells at metaphase is one.

Note: Metaphase takes 4% of the total time required for the entire cell division. The region of the centromere that gets attached to the spindle fiber is known as the kinetochore. The metaphase is followed by anaphase and then telophase. The even arrangement of chromosomes in metaphase is the reason why metaphase is considered the best stage to study mitosis.