Mention the number of chromosomes given in the diagram.

FOUR chromosomes.

(The parent cell shown contains four chromosomes. During anaphase their eight chromatids separate and move to the poles, so that each daughter cell will receive four chromosomes.)

COUNT CAREFULLY, because anaphase is the one stage where counting is genuinely confusing.

Once the centromere splits, each chromatid becomes a chromosome in its own right, so a cell with four chromosomes momentarily contains EIGHT separate structures moving apart — four heading to each pole.

THE SAFE METHOD: count the structures moving towards ONE pole. That number is the chromosome number of the parent cell, and of each daughter cell that will be formed. Counting everything in the cell doubles your answer.

This is precisely why mitosis produces two cells IDENTICAL to the parent: each pole receives one copy of every chromosome.