Re: What does the surface area to volume ratio actually mean?

Hi Scott,
Surface area to volume ratio is just the surface area of a cell
divided by its volume. In biology, the larger this number the better
for cells because that would mean that the cell has a relatively large
surface area compared with its volume. This is important because it is
one of the factors that determines how quickly substances can diffuse
into and out of the cell.
Generally the smaller the cell, the larger the SA:V ratio (you can
determine this for yourself by comsidering the surface areas and
volumes of spheres or cubes)and the faster the rate of diffusion. You
can observe the consequences of this relationship in nature: the
flattened shape of many smaller organisms such as flatworms or algae,
the small size of most cells. This is also why larger organisms need
more specialised transport systems to carry substances to certain
parts- diffusion would be too slow.

Hope this answers your question.
Tania Jacob