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  • Surface Area To Volume Ratio

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    Piper Mclean
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    The document discusses how surface area and volume are affected as cells grow. As cells increase in size, their surface area increases slower than their volume. This causes the surface area to volume ratio to decrease. Larger cells thus have less surface area relative to their volume, making it difficult to support metabolism. To compensate, cells develop adaptations like microvilli, flattening, or dividing into smaller volumes to effectively increase surface area without greatly increasing overall volume. Similar adaptations are seen in multicellular organisms.

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    Surface Area to Volume Ratio

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    The document discusses how surface area and volume are affected as cells grow. As cells increase in size, their surface area increases slower than their volume. This causes the surface area to volume ratio to decrease. Larger cells thus have less surface area relative to their volume, making it difficult to support metabolism. To compensate, cells develop adaptations like microvilli, flattening, or dividing into smaller volumes to effectively increase surface area without greatly increasing overall volume. Similar adaptations are seen in multicellular organisms.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    6 views13 pages

    Surface Area To Volume Ratio

    Uploaded by

    Piper Mclean
    The document discusses how surface area and volume are affected as cells grow. As cells increase in size, their surface area increases slower than their volume. This causes the surface area to volume ratio to decrease. Larger cells thus have less surface area relative to their volume, making it difficult to support metabolism. To compensate, cells develop adaptations like microvilli, flattening, or dividing into smaller volumes to effectively increase surface area without greatly increasing overall volume. Similar adaptations are seen in multicellular organisms.

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    of 13

    Z E

    S I
    TO
    S
    IT
    L IM

    © 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS


    VOLUME
    Volume determines the amount metabolism
    in the cytoplasm
    Metabolism will require import of precursors
    Metabolism will result in the export of
    secretions
    And the export of excretory products.

    © 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS


    SURFACE AREA
    Surface area determines the exchange of
    materials between the cell and its environment
    Bigger cells will metabolise more
    But they will need more surface to support
    that metabolism
    And the sites of metabolism inside bigger cells
    will be further from the surface of the cell.

    © 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS


    GROWING CELLS

    1µm

    2µm

    3µm

    4µm

    5µm

    © 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS


    6µm
    HOW ARE SURFACE AREA AND VOLUME
    AFFECTED BY GROWTH?
    Size
    / µm 1 2 3 4 5 6

    Surface
    area
    6 24 54 96 150 216
    / µm2

    Volume
    / µm3 1 8 27 64 125 216

    SA/V 6 3 2 1.5 1.2 1

    © 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS


    COMPARING SURFACE AREA AND VOLUME
    CHANGES

    © 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS


    SURFACE AREA:VOLUME RATIO

    © 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS


    THE PROBLEM
    Bigger cells have a greater metabolism than
    smaller cells
    BUT bigger cells have a proportionally less
    surface for exchange
    How to increase surface area without
    increasing volume still further?

    © 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS


    THROW OUT EXTENSIONS

    Microvilli of
    small intesti
    ne epitheliu
    m

    © 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS


    FLATTEN INTO A THIN FILM
    Chick blastodisc

    © 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS


    DIVIDE THE CYTOPLASM INTO SMALLER
    VOLUMES
    Zygote 8-cell Embryo

    Early human em
    bryos

    © 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS


    MULTICELLULAR ORGANISMS SHOW THE
    SAME ADAPTATIONS

    Flowering plants have an extensive, branched rooting


    system to absorb water and minerals

    © 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS


    MULTICELLULAR ORGANISMS SHOW THE
    SAME ADAPTATIONS

    Mammals have a long


    small intestine with
    internal folding to absorb
    digested food

    C. Candalh, INSERM
    © 2016 Paul Billiet ODWS

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