Question

Cells typically keep their surface area to volume ratio high. If a cell was a cube and you doubled the height, width, and length of the cell, how much would the surface area increase?

A. 2-fold
B. 4-fold
C. It would stay the same.
D. 9-fold
E. 8-fold

Answer 1

As a cell increases in size, the surface area-to-volume ratio decreases. If a cell cube's dimensions are doubled, the surface area will increase by 4-fold.

Step-by-step explanation:

As a cell increases in size, its surface area-to-volume ratio decreases. If the cell grows too large, the plasma membrane will not have sufficient surface area to support the rate of diffusion required for the increased volume. This means that a larger cell will have less surface area relative to its volume compared to a smaller cell. Therefore, if you double the height, width, and length of a cell cube, the surface area would increase by 4-fold.