Chapter 4, Problem 3TS

Summary Introduction

To calculate:

The surface-area-to-volume ratio of 1 cube and a 2 cube and determine which cube has the smaller ratio.

Introduction:

Cell is a system by itself and it requires large surface area to allow movement of adequate amount of nutrients in the cell and waste outside the cell. Small cells have adequate amount of surface area to facilitate the exchange of nutrients and waste. As the size of the cell increases the surface area becomes inadequate for the exchange of nutrients and wastes that the cell volume requires. The “surface-area-to-volume ratio” is obtained as for example a large cube is divided into many small cubes thus providing a lot more surface area per volume. This relationship is known as “surface-area-to-volume ratio”.