AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Cell size is limited due to the inability of very large cells to provide nutrients and water and remove wastes in an efficient manner. The size of a cell is limited by the relationship of the cell’s outer surface area to its volume or its surface area-to-volume ratio .

Detailed explanation-2: -As a cell grows, its volume increases much more rapidly than its surface area. Since the surface of the cell is what allows the entry of oxygen, large cells cannot get as much oxygen as they would need to support themselves.

Detailed explanation-3: -What limits cell sizes and growth rates? Cell growth is limited by rates of protein synthesis, by the folding rates of its slowest proteins, and-for large cells-by the rates of its protein diffusion.

Detailed explanation-4: -Cells are limited in size because the outside (the cell membrane) must transport the food and oxygen to the parts inside. As a cell gets bigger, the outside is unable to keep up with the inside, because the inside grows a faster rate than the outside.

Detailed explanation-5: -New studies in budding and fission yeast have examined the relationship between cell and nuclear volumes. It was found that the size of the nucleus remains proportional to cell size in a wide range of genetic backgrounds and growth conditions that alter cell volume and DNA content.