Question

Give reasons for the following.
Plant cells are more rigid than animal cells.

Answer 1

Hint: The plant cells and animal cells differ largely based on their outer coverings. These outer coverings or membranes are made of different components in both animal and plant cells. The plant cell wall majorly consists of cellulose and the animal cell lacks a cell wall but has a lipid-protein membrane.

Complete answer: The plants and animals make two different groups of organisms. Plants are characterized by green or colorful shades having leaves, stems, roots, flowers, etc. Plants are immobile whereas most of the animals are mobile. These characteristics of plants and animals are attributed to the cell types they have. Let us understand both cells of plants and animals to know what makes plant cells more rigid than animal cells.

Plant cells are different from animal cells largely based on the presence of the cell wall. The cell wall is the outermost covering of the plant cells and is made of cellulose generally. It is tough and rigid due to its compositions. Tough organic molecules like cellulose, lignin, pectin, hemicellulose, etc. make up the plant cell walls. The plant cells consist of two cell walls. The cell wall present outside the cells is called the primary cell wall and is very flexible. Outer to the primary cell wall is the secondary cell wall which is very rigid. It is the main reason that makes plant cells rigid as compared to animal cells. Animal cells are covered externally by a semipermeable membrane called the plasma membrane or cell membrane. It is made up of proteins and lipids arranged in a bi-layer fashion. The lipids make the membrane much more flexible and softer than the plant cell wall.
Thus, we can conclude that the plant cells are more rigid than the animal cells due to the presence of cell walls that provide rigidity.

Note: Various other differences in plant cell and animal cell are based on shape, energy storage type, size, etc. The plant cells usually have a rectangular shape and the animal cells are circular or irregular in shape. Size of plant cells ranges from 10 to 100 micrometer in length and animal cell is 10 to 30 micrometer in length. Plant cells store energy in the form of starch whereas animal cells store energy in the form of carbohydrate complexes usually glycogen.