Surface Area/Volume Of A Cell

Question 1

What is the surface area of a cell?

Answer 1

The surface area is the area of the outside of the cell called the cell membrane.

Question 2

What is the volume of a cell?

Answer 2

The volume of a cell is how much space there is inside the cell.

Question 3

How does size affect the surface area to volume ratio?

Answer 3

The ratio of surface area to volume of an object decreases with the increase of a cell’s size.
As a cell increases in size, its surface area to volume ratio decreases

Question 4

Does surface area or volume increase faster?

Answer 4

The increase in volume is always greater than the increase in surface area.

Question 5

How does diffusion relate to surface area and volume?

Answer 5

When there is more volume and less surface area, diffusion takes longer and is less effective.

Question 6

What happens if a cell has too much volume?

Answer 6

It will take more time for oxygen to be transported into the cell by diffusion. Without sufficient supply of oxygen, energy will not be produced as quickly as needed for the organism.
Not enough material will be able to cross the membrane fast enough and accommodate for its cellular volume
A cell could die from starvation or poison itself with its wastes.

Question 7

Why is it ideal for a cell to be small?

Answer 7

A small size is favourable because it ensure that the exchange of resources and waste occurs quickly enough for the cell to survive.

Question 8

What does more surface area equate to?

Answer 8

More surface area equates to increased absorption and smaller physical distance for materials to be transported in and out of a cell through diffusion.

Question 9

How does a cell’s metabolism relate to its size?

Answer 9

Large cells have less efficient metabolism due to increases in diffusion time and the decrease in the surface area to volume ratio.

Question 10

What are 6 ways for a cell to increase surface area?

Answer 10

1) Stay small — efficient import and export
2) increase surface area— different shapes may have the same volume but have extensions that only increase surface area (biconcave or elongated)
3) decrease the effective volume
4) bulk transport
5) division of labour within a cell
6) division of labour among different cells