2007-05-08 10:02:56 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
The volume is related to the radius cubed. So as a cell gets larger its volume increases very fast. If the radius of the cell is 2 cm its volume would be 8 cubic cm. For a 3 cm cell its volume is now 3 x 3 x 3 = 27 cubic cm. From this you can see if the cell gets very large its volume gets extremely large and the cell walls can not support very large cells.
2007-05-08 10:12:25 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Basically the surface area is the cell wall. So imagine a massive one cell creature with one cell wall it wouldn't work beacuse the cell wall could not support such a huge voulme of the creature. Therefore smaller size cells work and don't tend to get bigger becuase the tension on the cell wall would be too great with a big volume.
2007-05-08 18:00:16 · answer #2 · answered by gordon_benbow 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The cell's size is limited (not allowed to get very large) because as a cell gets bigger it has an inadequate surface area to volume ratio. There isn't enough plasma membrane surface to exchange all the materials that a bigger cell needs.
2007-05-08 17:11:34 · answer #3 · answered by ecolink 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋