AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -In humans, the male gamete is the sperm cell and the female gamete is the ovum (also called the egg cell). Both of them are haploid (n). Their union will result in a zygote that is diploid (2n) and by a process called fertilization.

Detailed explanation-2: -The stages of fertilization can be divided into four processes: 1) sperm preparation, 2) sperm-egg recognition and binding, 3) sperm-egg fusion and 4) fusion of sperm and egg pronuclei and activation of the zygote.

Detailed explanation-3: -Germ cells (sperm and egg) are haploid, meaning that during meiosis, the chromosome number doubles to 4N, then divides into 2N, and divides again into 1N. N is the number of chromosome types in the animal.

Detailed explanation-4: -In humans, an egg cell with 23 chromo-somes joins a sperm cell with 23 chromosomes to form a new 2n cell with 46 chromosomes. During fertilization, a 1n egg cell from a female combines with a 1n sperm cell from a male, producing a 2n fertilized egg cell, which develops into an offspring.