Scientists are testing substance L to determine how it enters mammalian cells in a culture. The cells maintain a 120 millimolar (mM) intracellular concentration of substance L . The scientists determined the rate of entry of substance L into the cells at various external concentrations of substance L (10 to 100 mM) in culture medium (Table 1). Table 1. Rate of entry of substance L into mammalian cells in culture
External concentration of substance L (mM) Rate of entry of substance L into cell as a percent of maximum
10 5%
20 25%
30 45%
40 65%
50 80%
60 90%
70 95%
80 100%
90 100%
100 100%
The cells maintain substance L at an internal concentration of 120 mM .
Determine the external concentration of substance L that will result in one-half of the maximal entry rate.

1. the energy lost to disorder metabolism     -entropy

2. related to or possessing motion potential     -kinetic

3. all of the chemical reactions in an organism required for maintenance of the processes of life entropy     -metabolism

4. possible; ability to go into action or perform work kinetic     -potential

5. the study of energy and its transformations thermodynamics     -thermodynamics

cells use diffusion to get substances in and out of themselves. that diffusion will occur across the cell membrane or the outer covering of the cell. because we are talking about the surface of the cell, surface area and volume are  important factors here. as a cell increases in size, its surface area and volume increase as well.  we call that the surface area to volume ratio (sa: vol).  but the catch is that  volume increases at a greater rate than surface  area. in other words, as a cell gets bigger, the sa: vol gets smaller. so a really small cell like bacteria is mostly cell membrane (surface) with very little contents (volume). a really big cell like an egg, is mostly insides with a super thin membrane. so what ends up happening is that the cell cannot efficiently diffuse all of the stuff it needs in/out to survive. therefore cell size is limited to about 100mm. so how do we make organisms bigger than 100mm? cells divide! by dividing and becoming multicellular, organisms are able to grow!   check out the diagrams i attached to see the effect of sa: vol. i hope this ! good luck!