Flexi Says: The eukaryotic cell spends most of its "life" in interphase of the cell cycle, which can be subdivided into the three phases, G1, S and G2. During interphase, the cell grows, performs routine life processes, and prepares to divide. The actual time spent in mitosis is only about 2 hours. The life span of a cell and whether it continues to divide depends on the cell type. Non-dividing cells in multicellular eukaryotic organisms enter G0 from G1. These cells may remain in G0 for long periods of time, even indefinitely, such as with neurons. By contrast, some types of skin cells divide as often as once per day. A cell that divides once per 24 hours would spend around 22 hours in interphase and 2 hours dividing. However, part of interphase includes copying DNA so some of the cell's energy during that time is devoted to preparing for division.
