Final answer:
Large cells face more significant challenges in maintaining homeostasis compared to small cells due to lower surface area-to-volume ratios, which affects the efficient exchange of substances with the environment.
Step-by-step explanation:
Large cells would have most trouble maintaining homeostasis because as the size of the cell increases, the surface area-to-volume ratio decreases, making it difficult for the cell to exchange substances like oxygen and nutrients with its environment efficiently.
For instance, a spherical cell with a large diameter will struggle because the diffusion rate of nutrients and waste is slower over longer distances. Small cells, such as prokaryotic cells, have a high surface area relative to their volume, which supports better and more efficient transport. In contrast, large, eukaryotic cells must develop complex mechanisms to cope with environmental changes and effective transport across the cell membrane, including having more transport proteins within their phospholipid bilayer.
Overall, cells either remain small, like most prokaryotes, or adopt a more flattened shape if they are single-celled eukaryotes, to mitigate the slower diffusion rates experienced by larger cells.