real life example of lateral curface area
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Answer:
One of my favorite examples is in starting a fire. You can’t just hold a match to a log and expect it to work, even though the log and small twigs are the same material and have the same burning point.
A cluster of small twigs and splinters bunched up together has a huge surface area compared to a log. More surface area equals more molecular sites for the reaction to happen at the same time, which means more energy is released. When more energy is being released you can move up to bigger and bigger branches and logs.
Another good one is cooling fins on an air cooled engine. A series of fins has many times more surface area than a smooth walled engine block of the same size. More surface area allows more heat to be dissipated to the surrounding air.
Even your internal organs employ surface area. Intestines are lined with tiny protruding structures that make the total inside surface area far bigger than if it were a smooth hollow tube. Lungs use a similar strategy. More surface area means more space to absorb nutrients or air.