Why is cell division necessayr? why coulnt cells simply continue to increase in size indefinitely?

Question

Why is cell division necessayr? why coulnt cells simply continue to increase in size indefinitely?

Answer 1

The amount of nutrients a cell needs to survive is propurtional to volume, however the amount it can take in is propurtional to surface area. For a sphere (which is close to a cell in shape) volume increases in proportion to radius cubed, but surface area increases in proportion to radius squared, so a cell would eventually be unable to sustain itself. Furthermore, if the cell were to get diseased the whole cell would die, so the more cells, the greater the odds some will survive (every time you get a virus it spreads by exploding a cell).