A section of a molecule of DNA has 12000 bases with a 1:3 ratio of adenine to cytosine.
The number of guanine bases in this section is:

In a DNA molecule, adenine (A) pairs with thymine (T), and cytosine (C) pairs with guanine (G). This means the number of adenine bases equals the number of thymine bases, and the number of cytosine bases equals the number of guanine bases.

### Given:
- Total number of bases = 12,000
- Ratio of adenine (A) to cytosine (C) = 1:3

Let:
- \( x \) represent the number of adenine (A) bases.
- Then, the number of cytosine (C) bases = \( 3x \) (since the ratio is 1:3).
- The number of thymine (T) bases = \( x \) (because \( A = T \)).
- The number of guanine (G) bases = \( 3x \) (because \( C = G \)).

### Total number of bases:
\[
x + 3x + x + 3x = 12,000
\]
\[
8x = 12,000
\]
\[
x = \frac{12,000}{8} = 1,500
\]

### Therefore:
- Number of adenine (A) bases = 1,500
- Number of cytosine (C) bases = 4,500 (since \( 3x = 3 \times 1,500 \))
- Number of guanine (G) bases = 4,500 (same as cytosine since \( C = G \)).

Thus, the number of guanine bases is **4,500**.

Would you like more details or have any questions about this process?

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Here are 5 related questions for further exploration:
1. How would the base counts change if the ratio of adenine to cytosine was 1:2 instead?
2. What role do guanine and cytosine play in the structural stability of the DNA molecule?
3. How does the ratio of different bases affect the overall properties of a DNA molecule?
4. If the total base count increased to 24,000, how would the number of guanine bases change?
5. How do adenine and thymine pair differently compared to cytosine and guanine?

**Tip:** DNA stability is often influenced by the GC (guanine-cytosine) content due to the stronger triple hydrogen bonding between G and C compared to the double bonding between A and T.

A section of a molecule of DNA has 12000 bases with a 1:3 ratio of adenine to cytosine. The number of guanine bases in this section is:

This problem involves solving for the number of guanine bases in a DNA molecule with a total of 12,000 bases and a given adenine-to-cytosine ratio of 1:3. Learn how to apply algebra and DNA base-pairing rules to find the solution. Suitable for high school students in Grades 9-12.

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