Surface area to volume ratio

Medium
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Question 7
Medium

The specific metabolic rate of endothermic animals can be modeled using the following allometric scaling relationship:

Specific metabolic rate=125×BM−0.25\text{Specific metabolic rate} = 125 \times \text{BM}^{-0.25}Specific metabolic rate=125×BM−0.25

where:

  • BM\text{BM}BM is the body mass of the animal in grams (g\text{g}g).
  • Specific metabolic rate is measured in cm3 O2 g−1 h−1\text{cm}^3\text{ O}_2\text{ g}^{-1}\text{ h}^{-1}cm3 O2​ g−1 h−1.

A goldcrest (Regulus regulus), one of Europe's smallest birds, has a body mass of 5.0 g5.0\text{ g}5.0 g.

An adult female Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) has a body mass of 4,050,000 g4,050,000\text{ g}4,050,000 g.

Use the equation to calculate how many times greater the specific metabolic rate of the goldcrest is than the specific metabolic rate of the Asian elephant.

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Surface area to volume ratio Questions

  1. A Level
  2. /Biology
  3. /Surface area to volume ratio