CHAPTER 1

TRANSPORT

1.1 THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING A TRANSPORT SYSTEM IN SOME MULTICELLULAR ORGANISMS

LEARNING OUTCOME

At the end of this subtopic, you will be able to : Identify the problem that could be faced by multicellular organisms in obtaining their cellular requirements and getting rid of their waste products Suggest how the problem is overcome in multicellular organisms

TOTAL SURFACE AREA TO VOLUME RATIO

The rate of exchange of substances in an organism occurs rapidly if: The surface area of the organism in contact with the environment is large The volume of the organism is small The total surface area / volume ratio is large The distance between the source of the substances and the body is close A high concentration gradient is maintained between the source and the body cells

TOTAL SURFACE AREA TO VOLUME RATIO

1 cm

Total surface area = 6 cm2 Volume = 1 cm3 Ratio of total surface area to volume = 6 : 1

TOTAL SURFACE AREA TO VOLUME RATIO

2 cm

Total surface area = 24 cm2 Volume = 8 cm3 Ratio of total surface area to volume = 3 : 1

TOTAL SURFACE AREA TO VOLUME RATIO

FIND THE RATIO OF TOTAL SURFACE AREA TO VOLUME OF THIS CUBE .

5 cm

Total surface area = 150 cm2 Volume = 125 cm3 Ratio of total surface area to volume = 3:1

THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING A TRANSPORT SYSTEM IN SOME MULTICELLULAR ORGANISMS

Unicellular organisms have no problem in getting necessary substances as well as getting rid of waste products as those substances can easily diffuse through the plasma membrane by simple diffusion This is because: The volume of the body is very small Therefore; the total surface area / volume ratio is very high

THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING A TRANSPORT SYSTEM IN SOME MULTICELLULAR ORGANISMS

However; the volume of the body of the multicellular organisms is great. Therefore, the total surface area / volume ratio is small. Furthermore, the distance between the source of substances and the cells of the organisms is too far. Due to this, multicellular organisms require a transport or circulatory system as simple diffusion is too slow to carry out the distribution of nutrients and oxygen and to remove waste products from the body