The surface area to volume ratio | Fundamentals of Biology
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The characteristics of living things The characteristics of living things continued All living things are made of cells Introduction Instruments used to view organisms Hooke's microscope Parts of a light microscope Magnification introduction How to calculate magnification Field of view Magnifying your field of view Calculating the diameter of the field of view Determining the size of a magnified object How large are cells? A typical animal cell The nucleus Cell membrane Cytoplasm Mitochondria Structure and function of animal cells Summary - animal cells A typical plant cell is different to an animal cell Cell wall Chloroplasts in the cytoplasm Cytoplasmic streaming Vacuoles Summary - plant cells Staining cells Sectioning Unicellular organisms Cilia and flagella Unicellular organisms have to eat too The importance of surface area and volume The surface area to volume ratio Multicellular organisms Viruses Summary - cell basics 1 Summary - cell basics 2 Growth Movement Reacting to the environment Respiring Reproduction Reproduction in bacteria Sexual reproduction Excretion Nutrition Do viruses live? How organisms are classified Dichotomous keys Alternative presentation of dichotomous keys Choosing characteristics for dichotomous keys The species concept Donkeys and horses - are they different species? Common names Carl Linnaeus invents binomial names Binomial names Hierarchy of classification Remembering the hierarchy Introduction to the five kingdoms Characteristics of kingdom prokaryotae Characteristics of kingdom Protista Characteristics of kingdom Fungi Kingdom Plantae Characteristics of kingdom Plantae Kingdom Animalia Characteristics of kingdom Animalia Characteristics of the five kingdoms A dichotomous key for the kingdoms Summary - classification Food and water Types of nutrients Water Carbohydrates Mono, di and polysaccharides Monosaccharides Disaccharides Polysaccharides Dietary fibre Lipids Energy, insulation and lipids Structure of lipids Proteins Structure of proteins Vitamins and minerals The role of vitamins Minerals The role of minerals Food for thought Digestion Mechanical digestion Chemical digestion The digestive system Mechanical digestion in the mouth Teeth - incisors and canines Teeth - molars and premolars Saliva Pharynx and oesophagus Chemical digestion in the stomach Mechanical digestion in the stomach Absorption of nutrients from the stomach The small intestine Villi and microvilli in the small intestine The regulatory role of the liver Absorption from the small intestine Absorption from the large intestine Digestive thoughts Activity 1, definitions Activity 2, looking at cells Activity 3, animal cells Activity 4, plant cells Activity 5, cells Activity 6, the characteristics of living things Activity 7, classification Activity 8, food Activity 9, the digestive system GlossaryModules
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XSIQ * * Biology - The surface area to volume ratio The surface area to volume ratio The ratio of surface area (SA) : volume (V) is important because it indicates whether the supply can meet the demand. A low SA : V ratio indicates that the cell will be unable to supply nutrients and remove wastes fast enough to meet its needs. As a cell increases in length its surface area does not increase to the same extent as its volume. Larger organisms [1] tend to have lower surface area to volume ratios. This makes it difficult or impossible for large cells to absorb nutrients and remove wastes [2]quickly enough to stay alive. In order to have a high surface area to volume ratio cells must be small. Links: ------ [1] http://alison.com/# [2] http://alison.com/#View Comments and Reviews >>