Concept
Version 8
Created by Boundless
Limiting Effects of Diffusion on Size and Development
Surface-to-volume ratio
The image illustrates the comparison of spheres of one to one thousand volume units. The surface-to-volume ratio of a sphere decreases as the sphere gets bigger. The surface area of a sphere is 4πr2 and it has a volume of (4/3)πr3 which makes the surface-to-volume ratio 3/r. This has an effect on diffusion because it relies on the surface area of a cell: as a cell gets bigger, diffusion becomes less efficient.
Source
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"Scale%2520one%2520to%2520thousand%2520spheres."
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scale_one_to_thousand_spheres.svg
Wikimedia
Public domain.