Different cells have many of the same components, but they often have different amounts of those components. Sometimes, those differences are just because one cell is bigger than the other. Other times, it's because the cells have different structures and functions. For three common model cells, three of these components are membrane proteins, mRNA molecules, and ribosomes. The number in each cell is shown.

For membrane proteins, mRNA, and ribosomes, decide whether the difference in number in the three cells is simply because of the different sizes of the cells (approximately – to, say, within a factor of 5 or so) or whether there might be some interesting difference between the cells. (For each case be sure to tell us which component you are considering! The answers might be different!) Be sure to clearly state your assumptions and how you came to the numbers you estimated, since grading on this problem will be mostly based on your reasoning, not on your answer.