. A human cheek cell's cycle is 24 hours. The stages within the cell cycle vary in length. G1 phase - 11 hours, G2 phase - 4 hours, S phase - 8 hours, M phase - 1 hour. Why does the cell spend 23 hours in interphase (G1-S-G2), while it spends only one hour in the M phase?

Interphase takes a long time because it is a preparatory stage where the cell makes proteins and organelles and doubles its chromosomes.

Interphase is when cells are dormant while they decide whether they want to replicate their chromosomes.

Interphase follows mitosis, when daughter cells double their chromosomes, which takes 23 hours.

Interphase consists of the Gap 1 and Gap 2 phases, in which the cell is dormant while the chromosomes align