Surface Area Is a Principle Concept Related to Many Areas in Biological Functioning. Heat as Well as Substances Can Be Transferred Between and Within the Body and the Environment. Explain the Relationship Between Surface Area and This Transfer.

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Surface area is a principle concept related to many areas in biological functioning. Heat as well as substances can be transferred between and within the body and the environment. Explain the relationship between surface area and this transfer. Cells require nutrients and gasses such as Oxygen to move into them. They also require waste substances and gasses such as Carbon Dioxide to move out of them. Many small animals can often manage to meet this demand, however larger animals often need a transport system with a pump to ensure they meet the demand. This is all because of their difference in surface area to volume ratio as surface area plays a vital role in the transfer of substances. The main principle of this movement of substances is diffusion. Diffusion is where particles move from where they are in an area of high concentration to where they are in an area of low concentration. Ficks law of diffusion states that: . This shows that the greater the surface area of the diffusion surface the greater the rate of diffusion will be. This is because there is a greater are for the particles to diffuse across if the is a concentration gradient. A good example of where a large surface area is used for a fast rate of diffusion is in the alveoli of the lungs. Alveoli are the ‘air sacs’ at the end of the airways in the lungs where the exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen takes place between the air in the alveoli and the blood in capillaries. Both the alveoli and the capillaries are extremely thin, only one cell thick, which increases the rate of diffusion, but the alveoli also have an extremely large surface area. This is because they take the shape of small spheres, giving them a large surface area to volume ratio. Another example of where surface area is maximised to increase the rate of diffusion is in the small intestine. The lining of the small intestine is

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