Surface to Volume Ratio
A cell must have a large surface to volume ratio for it to be efficient. The larger the cell the less efficient it becomes. As a cell grows, its interior volume increases at a faster rate than the surface area. To illustrate this think of a cube of square centimeter. Each side has a side that is one square centimeter. The surface area of this cell would be 6 square cm (1cm x 1cm x 6). The volume (L x W x H) of this cell would be 1cm3 (1cm x 1cm x 1 cm). If you compare the surface area and volume numbers you would see then that the ratio would be 6:1. Now consider the case of a cube that has 2 cm sides. The surface area this new cube would be 24 square cm and the volume would be 8 cm3 . If you compare the surface are to the volume you would see that the ratio is 24:8 which can be reduced down to 3:1. When you compare the ratios of the two cubes, the smaller cube has a larger surface to volume ratio. Remember, when you increase the size of the cube, there is a larger increase in the volume.