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Transcript
Cell Size • • • • • Why are cells so small? Background info: Surface area= cell membrane Volume= contents of cell Raw materials= oxygen, nutrients, amino acids, etc. • In order for cells to function they must transport materials across their cell membranes and carry on metabolic reactions all the time. • As a cell gets larger, the amount of reactions to keep the cell alive increase. The only way for the cell to get the raw materials needed for these reactions is across the cell membrane. • As the cell gets larger, its volume increases faster than its surface area. So as a cell grows its surface area to volume ratio decreases. • At some point the cell’s volume becomes too large for its surface area to supply it with raw materials. • So to reduce this effect, cells divide to stay small or change shape by creating projections in order to increase surface area or reduce volume. • The best size for a cell is to have a large surface area compared to its volume.
