Year 12 IB 2010.

Surface area to volume ratio.

1. Place the three cubes you have been given into a beaker of NaOH

and note the time. 2. After 10 minutes remove the blocks with plastic spoons and place them on a paper towel to dry. 3. Cut through the middle of each block. 4. Add the following to the chart that you did working out the SA and the simplest SA/volume ratio for the cubes. Surface Area: SA:V 1- 1cm2 1:1 2- 4 cm2 4:8 3- 9 cm2 9:27
5. Measure the length of the cube that as not been coloured(h)

1- 1 cm the cube. 1- 1 1- 0cm2 1- 1cm3 1- 100%

2- 2cm

3- 3cm

6. The extent of diffusion is H-h where H is the entire length of

2- 2 2- 1cm2 2- 7cm3 2- 87.5%

3- 3 3- 8cm2 3- 19cm3 3- 70.37%

7. Work out the volume not penetrated hxhxh= NP.

8. The volume penetrated is the original volume B minus NP.=P

9. Find the %penetration for each cube as P/Bx100%

10. Plot a graph with the percentage penetration on the vertical

axis and the SA/volume ratio on the horizontal axis.

Year 12 IB 2010.

Percentage Penetration of Agar-cubes

120 Percentage Penetration 100 80 60 40 20 0 SA/Vol Ratio

Questions 1. How does a plant overcome the problem of being a larger cell? As soon as the cell grows too big, it divides to become a smaller cell so it is easier for the cell to have access to nutrients. 2.Why are chloroplasts around the edge of the cell? - to ensure easy access to nutrients and to be available/close to the surface of the leaf for photosynthesis 3. Make a statement about the advantage of a large SA/Vol ratio. -Having a large SA/Vol ratio means that nutrients are spread out all throughout the cell, not just around the outer edges