Question

The surface area and volume for four cells are given. Which combination of cell dimensions would be considered the MOST metabolically favorable?
A. cell 1: surface area 14 mm^2, volume 33 mm^3
B. cell 2: surface area 20 mm^2, volume 12 mm^3
C. cell 3: surface area 7 mm^2, volume 17 mm^3
D. cell 4: surface area 5 mm^2, volume 2 mm^3

Answer 1

Answer:

D

Explanation:

This is because a bad ratio would be one where the volume is larger than the surface area. Once a cell's volume is larger than the surface area, there's not enough surface area to process all the products coming in and waste coming out. Ideally, you'd want a surface area and volume to be as close to each other as possible in number, but you'd rather have the volume be less than the surface area.