Question:

Why did Mendel choose pea plants for his experiments?

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The pea plant’s traits are easy to track across generations, making it an ideal choice for genetic experiments.
Updated On: Sep 3, 2025
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Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Characteristics of Pea Plants.
Mendel chose pea plants for his experiments because they have several distinct advantages: 1. Clear-cut Traits: Pea plants have easily distinguishable characteristics such as flower color, seed shape, and pod color. 2. Short Generation Time: They reproduce quickly, allowing Mendel to observe multiple generations in a short period. 3. Self-pollination: Pea plants can self-pollinate, ensuring that traits remain consistent unless cross-pollination is deliberately induced. 4. Ease of Cross-Pollination: Mendel could manually control the cross-pollination between different pea plants to study inheritance patterns.
Step 2: Conclusion.
Thus, the pea plant was an ideal model organism for studying the inheritance of traits, as it allowed Mendel to observe clear, predictable patterns of inheritance.
Final Answer: \[ \boxed{\text{Mendel chose pea plants due to their clear-cut traits, short generation time, and ability to self-pollinate.}} \]
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