Question

what problems would a cell that's too small encounter? What about a cell that's too large? @LichKing

Answer 1

A cell's total volume and its total surface area are both proportional to its radius (assuming a cell is round).

The thing is, the volume is proportional to the cell's radius r^3. All volumes are cubic measures because they exist in three dimensions. Whereas the area is proportional to the cell's radius r^ 2. All areas are squared.

So as the cell's radius increases - it's volume increases faster than its surface area.

If a cell gets too big, nutrients can't diffuse into it fast enough and waste can't diffuse out of it fast enough because it doesn't have enough surface area for metabolites to diffuse across.