Very small animals are rarely found in polar regions.give reason?
1 Answer
The smaller the linear dimensions the greater the ratio of surface area to volume, and therefore the greater the heat loss (relative to size)
Explanation:
Heat loss (assuming the external temperature is greater than an animal's internal temperature) is a function of the animal's exposed surface area.
The surface area increases by the square of the linear size of the animal;
the volume only increases by the cube of the linear size.
If the volume of an animal is increased by a factor of
then its linear dimensions are increased by a factor of
and its surface area is increased by
If
That is, increasing the volume increases the surface area (and thus the heat loss per unit of volume) by a less than 1.
