In 1925, E. Gorter and F. Grendel used an apparatus like that described in Problem 1 to determine the surface area of a lipid monolayer formed by lipids extracted from erythrocytes of several animal...

In 1925, E. Gorter and F. Grendel used an apparatus like that described in Problem 1 to determine the surface area of a lipid monolayer formed by
lipids extracted from erythrocytes of several animal species. They used a microscope to measure the dimensions of individual cells, from which they calculated the average surface area of one erythrocyte. They obtained the data shown in the table below. Were these investigators justified in concluding that “chromocytes [erythrocytes] are covered by a layer of fatty substances that is two molecules thick” (i.e., a lipid bilayer)?

Extracted text: Volume of Number of Total surface Total surface area of lipid celss (per package cells (mL) area of one mm?) monolayer from cells (m²) cell(um²) Animal Dog 40 8,000,000 62 98 Sheep 10 9,900,000 6.0 29.8 Human 1 4,740,000 0.92 99.4