Protoplasm

Protoplasm is the collective name for all of the genuinely living material inside a cell, everything that sits within the boundary drawn by the plasma membrane. It includes the cytoplasm, the nucleus, and every organelle suspended within them, and as a whole it is described as a colourless material distributed right through the cell. Chemically, protoplasm is a mixture of small particles - ions, amino acids and simple sugars (monosaccharides) - dissolved or suspended in water, together with larger macromolecules: nucleic acids, proteins, lipids and polysaccharides. Visually, it appears colourless, jelly-like, viscous yet elastic, and distinctly granular, and it often looks foamy because of the very large number of small vacuoles present within it. It is also a genuinely responsive material, capable of reacting to external stimuli such as heat, electric shock and v …