Cell Surface Size
Notice that as a cell increases in size, its surface area-to-volume ratio decreases.When there is insufficient surface area to support a cell's increasing volume, a cell will either divide or die.The cell on the left has a volume of 1 mm3 and a surface area of 6 mm2, with a surface area-to-volume ratio of 6 to 1, whereas the cell on the right has a volume of 8 mm3 and a surface area of 24 mm2, with a surface area-to-volume ratio of 3 to 1.
Source
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"OpenStax College, Prokaryotic Cells. October 16, 2013."
http://cnx.org/content/m44406/latest/Figure_04_02_03.png
OpenStax CNX
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