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High school biology
Course: High school biology > Unit 2
Lesson 6: Plant vs animal cellsPlant vs animal cells review
How do plant and animal cells differ?
Both plant and animal cells are eukaryotic, so they contain membrane-bound organelles like the nucleus and mitochondria.
However, plant cells and animal cells do not look exactly the same or have all of the same organelles, since they each have different needs. For example, plant cells contain chloroplasts since they need to perform photosynthesis, but animal cells do not.
Diagram of a typical animal cell:
Diagram of a typical plant cell:
- Both animal and plant cells have mitochondria, but only plant cells have chloroplasts. Plants don’t get their sugar from eating food, so they need to make sugar from sunlight. This process (photosynthesis) takes place in the chloroplast. Once the sugar is made, it is then broken down by the mitochondria to make energy for the cell. Because animals get sugar from the food they eat, they do not need chloroplasts: just mitochondria.
- Both plant and animal cells have vacuoles. A plant cell contains a large, singular vacuole that is used for storage and maintaining the shape of the cell. In contrast, animal cells have many, smaller vacuoles.
- Plant cells have a cell wall, as well as a cell membrane. In plants, the cell wall surrounds the cell membrane. This gives the plant cell its unique rectangular shape. Animal cells simply have a cell membrane, but no cell wall.
Want to join the conversation?
which part of cell control the activities of the cell(14 votes)
I think it is nucleus. The part is DNA, I think(9 votes)
- What is a relationship between plant cell and animal cell?(6 votes)
They are both examples of eukaryotic cells. In addition, eukaryotic cells also have protists and fungi.(9 votes)
- There was not a lot of information on the cell wall why do plants need it and animals don't?(1 vote)
Think about it: animals are on the move. They need a heart that can pump blood. They need muscles that can flex and relax to move. They need a digestive system that can stretch to hold food. Plants, meanwhile, need to stay upright to photosynthesize. They need to support themselves and their organs; otherwise, they cannot grow.
Plants need the walls to support themselves. Animals, on the other hand, have skeletons, but they act as a frame for the other, flexible, fleshy organs that are required for movement.
Does this help?(21 votes)
isn't the membrane surrounds the cell wall. why not.(0 votes)
nope cell wall protects membrane that's how it is(11 votes)
what r more ways they are similar(4 votes)
Both cells have cytoplasm, endoplasmic reticulum, cytoskeletons, and golgi bodies.(1 vote)
what size are the plant and animal cells? cell? Do non living things have cell?(4 votes)
Size of an animal cell ranges from 10 to 30 micrometres while for plant cell it ranges from 10 to 100 micrometers. 1 micrometer is 1/1000 of a millimetre. And non-living things do not have a cell. They are not living and thus don't need any of our body systems. They just need a structure, no body systems, thus no cells. So non living things don't need cells. Hope that this answers your question.(5 votes)
- If plants get all their energy from sunlight, then why do venus fly traps eat flies? Does sunlight not give them enough energy?(2 votes)
Carnivorous plants, like venus flytraps, are still photosynthetic, but rely on their prey to get nutrients (not energy) that may not be available in their habitat's soil.(9 votes)
- what is the shape of the plant and animal cell or it does not have a definite shape(4 votes)
yes, cells do not have a definite shape, but plant cells do have a tendency to have shrp looking distinct edges.(3 votes)
If plants get all their energy from sunlight, then why do venus fly traps eat flies? Does sunlight not give them enough energy?(4 votes)
Dont only plants cells have vacuoles(0 votes)
both have vacuoles.
however, there are more vacuoles in an animal cell than a plant cell.
a plant cell has one large central vacuole, but an animal cell has more vacuoles and the vacuoles tend to be smaller.(6 votes)