amount of tRNA and its extra arm
With respect to at least two sources I could find, tRNA is commonly reported as encompassing 15% total RNA in both rapidly-dividing mammalian cells such as HeLa, and in S. cerevisiae (1, 2). To give you an interesting tool to look it up in the same way I did, I used Harvards' Bionumbers webpage to search tRNA.

As for the function of the variable loop, it would seem that it serves to stabilize the tRNA overall structure through three-base interactions, and somehow interfaces with the type II tRNA synthetase (3). I'll try to find more on this interaction.