Why do we have so many cells?
Cells are the smallest living things in our bodies, and there are millions of them in our body, constantly reproducing. There are so many different types of cells in our body, all functioning in different ways and performing different tasks. All the same functioning cells form together to create a tissue, sort of like how all of the organs in our body work together to maintain our health. Due to the human body's complexity, all of the cells bind together and help create our tissues, and essentially, our organs.
Would it be a problem if humans had 1/2 the cells if they were 2x the size?
Yes, I think that this would be a problem because due to the experiment we performed in class, we discovered that during the same time of being in HCL, the one cm cube was almost completely transparent (acidic), and the large cube of 3 cm still was mostly pink (neutral). Furthermore, when we calculated the surface area to volume ratios and the numbers helped us understand why our cells are the size they are. First, for the 3x3 cm cube, the surface area to volume ratio was 54:27=2:1, the medium cube at 2x2 cm had a ratio of 24:8=3:1, and the 1x1 cm had a ratio of 6:1. When we went back and took measurements, on the big cube 2.5 cm was still pink, the medium had 1.8 cm that was still pink, and the small cube was almost completely absorbed. In comparison to the smallest cube, the 3x3 (biggest cube) only absorbed 0.5 cm of the cube, and the 1x1 cube was almost fully absorbed. This allowed us to come to the conclusion that the bigger the body of the cell, the volume gets bigger faster than the surface area, meaning that surface area to volume ratio would get smaller. So if the increase in surface area doesn't increase in proportion to the volume, there has to be a point where the cell can't absorb enough nutrients through the membrane.
Cells are the smallest living things in our bodies, and there are millions of them in our body, constantly reproducing. There are so many different types of cells in our body, all functioning in different ways and performing different tasks. All the same functioning cells form together to create a tissue, sort of like how all of the organs in our body work together to maintain our health. Due to the human body's complexity, all of the cells bind together and help create our tissues, and essentially, our organs.
Would it be a problem if humans had 1/2 the cells if they were 2x the size?
Yes, I think that this would be a problem because due to the experiment we performed in class, we discovered that during the same time of being in HCL, the one cm cube was almost completely transparent (acidic), and the large cube of 3 cm still was mostly pink (neutral). Furthermore, when we calculated the surface area to volume ratios and the numbers helped us understand why our cells are the size they are. First, for the 3x3 cm cube, the surface area to volume ratio was 54:27=2:1, the medium cube at 2x2 cm had a ratio of 24:8=3:1, and the 1x1 cm had a ratio of 6:1. When we went back and took measurements, on the big cube 2.5 cm was still pink, the medium had 1.8 cm that was still pink, and the small cube was almost completely absorbed. In comparison to the smallest cube, the 3x3 (biggest cube) only absorbed 0.5 cm of the cube, and the 1x1 cube was almost fully absorbed. This allowed us to come to the conclusion that the bigger the body of the cell, the volume gets bigger faster than the surface area, meaning that surface area to volume ratio would get smaller. So if the increase in surface area doesn't increase in proportion to the volume, there has to be a point where the cell can't absorb enough nutrients through the membrane.