* Human cells start with 46 chromosomes. We inherit 23 chromosomes from our mother and 23 from our father, giving us a total of 46.

* Mitosis creates two identical daughter cells. This is the process that most of our body cells use to divide. The result is two new cells, each with a full complement of 46 chromosomes.

* Meiosis produces gametes (sperm and egg cells). This specialized type of cell division is used only for reproduction. Meiosis reduces the chromosome number by half, resulting in gametes with 23 chromosomes each. This is important so that when a sperm and egg fuse during fertilization, the offspring inherits the correct number of chromosomes (46).

Therefore, the result of a normal human cell division (mitosis) is two offspring nuclei, each containing 46 chromosomes. Only the result of meiosis produces offspring nuclei with 23 chromosomes.