People always like things when they're bigger, especially if it's something they love. It's the opposite for cells. Cell division is the process by which cells reproduce offspring cells. All cells have come from preexisting cells. This process differs in eukaryotes and in prokaryotes. If a cell gets too big and does not divide, there will be problems. For instance, if a cell were too big, then the membrane wouldn't be able to hold its contents without bursting. Also, they are small so that liquids can easily diffuse in and out of cells. Diffusion depends on surface area to volume ratio. Small cells have a larger ratio, which means that there is more surface area to service the little content of the cell.
Too keep a cell small throughout its life, it must perform a process called endocytosis. Endocytosis is when a cell removes a little bit of its own membrane, to stop it from getting too large. Without cell division, how would things reproduce? Cell division is needed in every living organism to reproduce. Without reproduction, there might only be one of each living thing on earth! Now that would be a scary thought. In eukaryotes, there are two stages. There is interphase and cell division. There are three stages in interphase. These are G1, S, and G2. In cell division, there are five stages. These include prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase, and cytokenisis.
