Home Page Textbooks Prentice Hall Biology (California) Section 10.1: Cell Growth

Prentice Hall Biology (California)

1st Edition

Kenneth R. Miller, Levine

ISBN: 9780132013529

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Section 10.1: Cell Growth

Exercise 1

Solution 1

Solution 2

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If the cell gets too big, the information in the DNA is not going to be copied but it will just outgrow the limit. It would also be difficult to sustain the amount of oxygen and nutrients that it needs, as well as getting the waste out of its system. Therefore, cells divide to avoid DNA overload and to ensure that the efficient exchange of materials, such as nutrients and waste, between cells would take place.

Result

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Cells divide to avoid DNA overload and to ensure that the efficient exchange of materials, such as nutrients and waste, between cells would take place.

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Give two reasons why cells divide.

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As a cell becomes larger…
the cell has more demands on its DNA and struggles moving enough nutrients and wastes across the cell membrane.

Exercise 2

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The DNA found inside the nucleus of a cell is compared to the books in a library. Imagine that a small library contains 500 books that contain all sorts of information and there are 2,000 people who would like to get access to these books and get information. Since the number of books could no longer serve the larger population of the people, some of them have to wait in queue before they could borrow a book.

Similarly, if the cells become larger in size, it would have increasing demands for the genetic library. Since the cell would not divide, it could no longer make more copies of the genetic material. Because of these conditions, its needs would be greater than what the actual DNA can provide. As a result, the cell’s DNA would not be able to serve the cell’s needs.

Exercise 3

Solution 1

Solution 2

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When a cell increases in size, its volume increases more rapidly than its surface area does, thus making it more difficult for that cell to dispel waste products or transport needed materials/nutrients in.

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As a cell becomes larger in size, its internal volume increases and the cell membrane expands. However, the **volume** of the cell often increases more rapidly as compared to its surface area.

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Since the volume of a cell increases more rapidly, the surface-area-to-volume ratio of the cell decreases as the cell grows larger. This will negatively affect material transport within the cell.

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To explain further, a larger cell would take a longer time to transport materials from one point to another due to its high volume. This will be inefficient in terms of transporting nutrients in the cell.

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Volume

Exercise 4

Step 1

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A. Surface area

Formula:

length $times$ width $times$ 6

Given:

A cubic cell that measures 4 cm on all sides

length = 4 cm

width = 4 cm

Solve:
4 cm $times$ 4 cm $times$ 6 = 96 cm$^{2}$

Step 2

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B. Volume

Formula:

length $times$ width $times$ height

Given:

A cubic cell that measures 4 cm on all sides

length = 4 cm

width = 4 cm

height = 4 cm

Solve:

4 cm $times$ 4 cm $times$ 4 cm = 64 cm$^{3}$

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C. Ratio of surface area to volume

Surface area = 96 cm$^{2}$

Volume = 64 cm$^{3}$

Answer = 96/64 or 3:2

Result

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A cubic cell, which measures 4 cm on each side, has a surface area of 96 cm $^{2}$ and a volume of 64 cm$^{3}$. The ratio of the surface area to volume is 96/64 or 3:2.

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Section 10.1: Cell Growth

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