Which type of cell division results in gametes with half the normal amount of chromosomes?

The type of cell division that results in gametes with half the normal amount of chromosomes is meiosis. Meiosis is a specialized form of cell division that occurs in sexually reproducing organisms and is essential for producing gametes—sperm and eggs.

During meiosis, a diploid cell undergoes two rounds of division: meiosis I and meiosis II. In meiosis I, homologous chromosomes are separated, and the number of chromosomes is halved from diploid (2n) to haploid (n). This halving is crucial because it ensures that when fertilization occurs, the resulting zygote will have the correct diploid number of chromosomes, restoring the full complement.

In contrast, mitosis is responsible for general cell division for growth and repair, maintaining the same chromosome number in the daughter cells as the parent cell. Binary fission is a form of asexual reproduction seen in prokaryotes where the organism divides into two equals, resulting in genetically identical cells without any change in chromosome number. Cell differentiation refers to the process by which cells become specialized in structure and function, rather than a method of cell division.

Thus, meiosis is the only process among the choices that results in the production of gametes with