Volume / Surface Area Name: _________________________

Cell Size
What determines the size of a cell?

Why?
Sometimes bigger is better—tall basketball players, more closet space, and savings accounts may come to
mind. What about cells? Does having big cells make an organism bigger or better? Would having larger
cells be an advantage to an organism? If so, why do cells divide rather than continue growing? Maybe there
is an advantage to being small.

Model 1 – Investigating Cell Size

Cell A Cell B

1. Are the cells shown in Model 1 plant or animal cells? Explain your answer.

2. Label Cell B in Model 1 with the following structures.

cell membrane cytoplasm nucleus
ribosomes vacuole mitochondria
3. Compare the smaller cell in Model 1 to the larger cell in Model 1.
a. Which cell has a larger surface area (more cell membrane surface)?

b. Which cell has more channels in its cell membrane that can transport molecules (nutrients,
oxygen, and waste products) in and out of the cell?

1
 4. Compare the smaller cell to the larger cell in Model 1.
a. Which cell has more mitochondria?

b. Propose an explanation for why the cell in part a would need more mitochondria for proper
functioning of the cell.

5. What would be the consequences for a cell if the cell membrane was not large enough to have
adequate channels for bringing in nutrients and removing waste?

6. Compare the smaller cell to the larger cell in Model 1.

a. Which cell has a larger volume?

b. Imagine a glucose molecule entering the cell membrane. Would that molecule be able to
reach the mitochondria faster if the cell had a smaller volume or a larger volume? Explain.

c. As the mitochondria metabolize the glucose, they produce carbon dioxide waste. Would the
CO2 molecules be able to leave the cell faster if the cell had a smaller volume or larger volume?
Explain.

7. Consider your answers to the previous questions. Is bigger always better for a cell? Explain.

Model 2 – Comparing Shapes

Side 1 cm 2 cm 4 cm
Surface area
Volume
Surface Area-to-
Volume Ratio
Diameter 1 cm 2 cm 4 cm
Surface area
Volume
Surface Area-to-
Volume Ratio

Diameter × 1 cm × 1 cm 1 cm × 2 cm 1 cm × 4 cm
Height
Surface area
Volume
Surface Area-to-
Volume Ratio
Label the sets of shapes in Model 2 with each of the following: cubes, spheres, cylinders.
8. Calculate the surface area and volume values that are missing in Model 2. Divide the work
among the members of your group and check each other’s work.

10. Consider the data in Model 2.

a. Describe the change in the surface area of the cube when the length of the side doubles.

b. Describe the change in the volume of the cube when the length of the side doubles.

c. When a shape gets larger, which increases at a faster rate, surface area or volume?

12. Calculate the surface area-to-volume ratio for each shape in Model 2. One example is given in
Model 1 for this calculation.
13. For all three of the shape sets, describe the change in the surface area-to-volume ratio as the size of
the shape increases.

14. Considering your answer to Question 7, is it more desirable for a cell to have a small surface area-to-
volume ratio or a large surface area-to-volume ratio? Explain your answer in terms of the functions
of a cell.

15. Circle two figures in Model 2 that have a similar surface area (within 1 cm2 of each other).
a. Do the two figures have the same volume?

b. Which shape has a more desirable surface area-to-volume ratio?

16. In multicellular organisms some cells need to be large because of the functions they perform (i.e.
nerve cells, muscle cells). What shape would be most desirable for these larger cells?

Extension Questions
17. Propose, by means of a sketch, geometrical shapes of cells that would allow a balance of function
and materials movement for each of the following situations. (Hint: Think about which aspect of
shape would help the cell best carry out its given function.)
a. Long-distance communication.

b. Stretching.

c. Storage.

d. Covering and protecting.

e. Importing large quantities of material for transfer to other cells.

18. Among unicellular eukaryotes, cell sizes differ greatly. Amoeba and Paramecium organisms
are animal-like protists that are heterotrophic, have no cell wall, and are several times larger than
most human cells. What might be some reasons 1 why these unicellular organisms have larger cells
 than cells with similar traits (heterotrophic, lacking cell walls) that are found in multicellular
organisms?

Volume to Surface Area Ratios

1. A cell is 8 m in width and depth, and 30 m in length. What is the surface area of this cell?
What is the volume of this cell? What is the surface area to volume ratio of this cell?
Consider the geometry of this cell:
8 µm

30 µm 8 µm
Surface Area = surface area of 2 ends + surface area of 4 sides =

Volume = base x height x depth =

Surface Area to Volume ratio = Surface Area ÷ Volume =

Note: 1 is the same as µm-1

µm

2. If a cubical cell maintained its shape while it grew to ten times its initial size, by what
percent would the surface to volume ratio change?

The original cell is a cube and has sides with the dimension of 1um.

Surface Area of original cell = total surface area of the six panels that form the cube =
Volume of original cell =
Surface Area : Volume of original cell =

The enlarged cell is also a cube but has sides ten times larger Surface
Area of enlarged cell =
Volume of enlarged cell =
Surface Area : Volume of enlarged cell =

Comparison of Surface Area : Volumes = SA : V enlarged =

3. If a plant cell is 8 m in width and depth and has a length of 30 m, what is the surface to
volume ratio for this cell? If the same cell has a large central vacuole, so that the
cytoplasm (not including the vacuole) extends inward 1 m from the plasma membrane of
the cell, what is the surface to cytoplasmic volume ratio? What does this tell you about the
function of the plant vacuole?
Surface Area to Volume ratio =

Think of the second part of the problem as a smaller box

(vacuole) nested inside of a larger one (entire cell). The 6 µm
volume of the cytoplasm (shaded area) will be the volume of 8 µm
28 µm
the larger box minus the volume of the smaller one (third
dimension is not shown):
30 µm

Volume of larger box = Volume

of smaller box = Volume of
cytoplasm =
Surface Area to cytoplasmic volume ratio =

The cell surface area to cytoplasmic volume ratio is over twice that (209%) of the surface
area to volume ratio of the whole cell. One function of the vacuole is to increase the ratio of
the surface area to cytoplasmic volume.

4. A cell and its nucleus both have a spherical shape; the nucleus is 1 m in diameter and the
cell is 15
m in diameter. What is the cellular/nuclear volume ratio for this cell? If the cell were to triple its
diameter, how would the cellular/nuclear volume ratio change? (Note: the formula for the surface area
of a sphere is: 4πr2, and the formula for the volume of a sphere is: 4/3πr3, where r is the radius of the
sphere and π is 3.1416.)

Cell : Nuclear volume ratio =

5. Do an internet search of how cells have evolved to increase or maximize their surface area. Give a few
examples from your search in the space below!