VISUAL ANALOGY
GROWING PAINS
FIGURE 10–2 Lots of growth can mean lots of trouble—both in a town and in a cell. Use Analogies How could cell growth create a problem that is similar to a traffic jam?
▸ Traffic Problems To use the town analogy again, suppose the town has just a two-lane main street leading to the center of town. As the town grows, more and more traffic clogs the main street. It becomes increasingly difficult to move goods in and out.
A cell that continues to grow would experience similar problems. If a cell got too large, it would be more difficult to get sufficient amounts of oxygen and nutrients in and waste products out. This is another reason why cells do not continue to grow larger even if the organism does.
Division of the Cell Before it becomes too large, a growing cell divides, forming two “daughter” cells. The process by which a cell divides into two new daughter cells is called cell division.
Before cell division occurs, the cell replicates, or copies all of its DNA. This replication of DNA solves the problem of information overload because each daughter cell gets one complete copy of genetic information. Cell division also solves the problem of increasing size by reducing cell volume. Cell division results in an increase in the ratio of surface area to volume for each daughter cell. This allows for the efficient exchange of materials within a cell.
Table of Contents
- Formulas and Equations
- Applying Formulas and Equations
- Mean, Median, and Mode
- Estimation
- Using Measurements in Calculations
- Effects of Measurement Errors
- Accuracy
- Precision
- Comparing Accuracy and Precision
- Significant Figures
- Calculating With Significant Figures
- Scientific Notation
- Calculating With Scientific Notation
- Dimensional Analysis
- Applying Dimensional Analysis