An RNA molecule has the following percentages of bases: \( \mathrm{A}=23 \%, \mathrm{U}=42 \%, \mathrm{C}=21 \% \), and \( \mathrm{G}=14 \% \). © Macmillan Learning Is this RNA single-stranded or double-stranded? How can you tell? double-stranded, because it has approximately equal percentages of A and C double-stranded, because it has a higher percentage of \( U \) than \( A, C \), or \( G \) single-stranded, because it does not have equal percentages of G and C single-stranded, because it has approximately equal percentages of \( A \) and \( C \) What would be the percentage of bases in the template strand of the DNA that contains the gene for this RNA? \( A= \) \( \square \) \( \mathrm{U}= \) \( \square \) \[ \mathrm{T}= \] \( \square \) \[ \mathrm{C}= \] \( \square \) \[ \% \] (1) \( G= \) \( \square \) \%

The key to determining whether RNA is single-stranded or double-stranded lies in the pairing of bases. In RNA, the presence of uracil (U) instead of thymine (T) suggests that if it were double-stranded, we would expect to see complementary base pairing (A with U, C with G). However, the imbalanced percentages in this RNA (A: 23%, U: 42%, C: 21%, G: 14%) signal that it must be single-stranded, as a double-stranded RNA would exhibit more complementary percentages. Now, for the DNA template strand corresponding to this RNA, it's important to remember that adenine (A) pairs with thymine (T) in DNA, and uracil (U) in RNA pairs with adenine (A) in DNA. Thus, the complementary percentages would be as follows: \( A = 23 \%\), \( T = 42 \%\) (matching U), \( C = 21 \%\), \( G = 14 \%\). Hence, \( A = 23 \%\), \( U = \text{n/a}\), \( T = 42 \%\), \( C = 21 \%\), and \( G = 14 \%\).