Introduction

A cell must be able to transport all the particles it needs through its membrane when they are needed.



A7.1 A crowd of people
A large cell with a relatively small amount of cell membrane surface may not be able to transport particles through the membrane fast enough to meet its needs. There must be enough cell membrane area to support all the particle transport needs of the cell. It would be like trying to get a large crowd of people into an event through only a few doors—it's not going to work.

Cells have to find the perfect ratio between their size and the size of their membrane. We will explore this ratio in the following lesson.

  Targets

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to
  • describe how cell size and shape are affected by the surface area to volume ratio
  • explain how that ratio limits cell size

  Watch This


Surface Area Lab 

https://adlc.wistia.com/medias/c8ukij63yz


Watch this video for a review of how surface area affects the reaction rate in a lab. Remember, the more surface area available, the faster the reaction since there is more of the substance available to react with.