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WALL about cells

Page history last edited by PBworks 16 years, 4 months ago

 

Why Cells are so Small?

There are two major types of cells, Eukaryotic and Prokaryotic. They are both extremely small, and to understand the reason for this one must know that cells must interact with their environment constantly. And the passage of all materials into and out of the cell occurs through the plasma membrane. Each compartment of the cell has to be served by part of the cell surface. When a cells becomes larger, the surface area doesn’t increase as quickly as the volume does. Therefore, the amount of surface area available to serve each cell compartment increases. However, there is a point when there is the exact amount of surface area available to serve to the interior. So, if the cell want to survive it has to stop growing. Basically, the ratio of surface area to volume gets smaller as the cell gets bigger. If a cell is too big material cannot enter the cell fast enough.

 

 

Basic Information of Cells

 What does this statement refer to “Eukaryotic cells are often referred to as highly compartmentalized.”?

        Eukaryotic cells are often referred to as highly compartmentalized.  This means that specific functions of a cell are carried out by specific organelles, often in specific places inside the cell.  The membrane on the organelle allows the function of that organlle to be carried out without disrupting other cellular functions and without being disrupted by them.  For example, if a lysosome was not bound by a membrane, the enzymes to be broken down inside it would get out and destroy the cell.  These membranes are non-permiable to everything except for oxygen and carbon dioxide.   For an example of organelle placement inside the cell, take the large central vacuole in a plant cell.  If this organelle was not in the center, the cell would function abnormally or not function at all.  Compartmentalization is extremely important in eukaryotic cells.  Without it, nothing inside the cell would work.  

 

http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/ahp/LAD/C5/C5_ProbSize.html

 

  

 

 

Eukaryotic Animal Cell

 

 

 

Eukaryotic Plant Cell

 

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