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Describe the relationship between the surface area and the volume of a cell. Analyze the data and explain why cells are often flattened instead of cube-shaped.

User Gerrytan
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1 Answer

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22 votes

Answer:

Inverse relation.

Step-by-step explanation:

There is an inverse relationship between the surface area and the volume of a cell because one increases the other decreases. When a cell grows bigger in size, its internal volume enlarges and the cell membrane start expanding. Unfortunately, the volume increases more rapidly than the surface area of the cell. So the surface area available to pass materials to a unit volume of the cell steadily decreases. Cells are often flattened instead of cube-shaped because the surface area increases. Due to surface area increases, more materials to be absorbed through the cell membrane at a greater rate than that of a cell with smaller surface area.

User Daniel Zeitlin
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