CELL DIVERSITY AND CELL SIZE

pp. 72-73

Cell shape• Cells specialized (i.e. epithelial vs nerve cell)• Cell shape related to function of the cell

Cell size

• surface area to volume ratio decreases with increasing cell size (EX. 6:1 vs 3:1)

• Volume increases quicker than the surface area

What does this mean for the cell?

• The bigger the volume the less surface area • not enough surface area to meet the needs of

the increasing volume• distance to center increases as cell increases• Difficulty exchanging materials (such as

nutrients, oxygen, and waste products) across the cell

• Why is this important to the cell?

Substances cannot get to the center, or out of the center of the cell if it’s too

big