Question

Question #fc7ff

Answer 1

They have a relatively small surface area to volume ratio, so relatively little transport occurs, limiting their biochemical processes.

Explanation:

Imagine a cell as 10 by 10 by 10 units across (and ignore the fact it is a cube for the moment). It has a volume of 1000 `units^3` and a surface area of 10 by 10 units squared on each face, so a total area of 60 units squared.

It’s surface area to volume ratio is 60/1000 = 0.06

Now imagine a cell 2 units across: it has a volume of 8 units cubed and an area of 24 units squared, so has a surface area to volume ratio of 24/8 = 3 ..... much bigger.

So smaller cells are more efficient.