3.1.3 Plant and Animal Cell Overview: The Basics

Question 1

Both plant and animal cells, which are eukaryotes, have cell features in common:

Answer 1

• Both plant and animal cells are bound by plasma membranes that enable the
regulation of materials passing into and out of the cell.
• Compartmentalization is the process by which cells have evolved organelles, membrane-enclosed structures that perform specific functions, to increase the efficiency of cell metabolism.
• The surface-area-to-volume ratio is used to measure cell efficiency. It is calculated by dividing a cell’s surface area (in square units) by the volume (in cubic units)

Question 2

plasma membrane

Answer 2

• binds both (b) plant and (a) animal cells. The membrane allows regulation of material passing in and
  out of the cell. Generalized plant and animal cells—including cell membranes—are depicted in illustrations on the left.

Question 3

compartmentalization

Answer 3

• can be likened to the division of labor by society. Compartmentalization enables cell organelles to
  specialize in one activity and thereby increase productivity. The illustrations on the left show that in both (b) plant and (a) animal cells, cell processes are compartmentalized into organelles, the main units of cell function.

Question 4

surface-area-to-volume ratios

Answer 4

• As overall cube (cell) size increases, surface-area-to-volume ratio decreases. A higher surface-area-to-volume ratio is more efficient for cellular activity.

Question 5

What is the function of the plasma membrane in plants and animals?

Answer 5

• to regulate entry and exit of materials

Question 6

____________ is the evolutionary process by which cells have developed organelles, specialized structures that perform specific functions, in order to increase the efficiency of cell metabolism.

Answer 6

• Compartmentalization

Question 7

Which of the following statements regarding cell size is correct?

Answer 7

• A higher surface-area-to-volume ratio is more efficient for cellular activity

Question 8

If you looked at the cells of an elephant and a longhorn beetle with a light microscope, you would find that

Answer 8

• the cells would be approximately the same size.

Question 9

One recognizable difference between plant and animal cells is that

Answer 9

• plant cells have thick, rigid cell walls. Animal cells do not have cell walls.