BRAINCAKEMeasuring Growth
Growth is a permanent increase in size or mass, usually brought about by an increase in cell number and cell size. Temporary changes, such as a plant cell swelling as it takes up water, are not growth. To study growth we need a measurable variable, recorded over time.
Common measures:
• Length or height: easy and non-destructive, but ignores growth in width and branching.
• Fresh (wet) mass: easy and non-destructive, but the water content changes with drinking, eating, watering or transpiration, so it can be unreliable.
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Key terms in this lesson
- haemocytometer
- A specialised counting chamber slide, used with a microscope, to count the number of cells in a known volume of liquid.
More in The Cell Cycle
- Asexual Reproduction
- Sporulation
- Regeneration
- Budding
- Vegetative Propagation
- Mitosis and Growth and Repair
- Growth Patterns
- Growth in Plants
All 18 lessons in The Cell Cycle · All Edexcel AS-level Biology topics