Plant Cell Diagram (Labeled)
A labelled diagram of a plant cell, including the three extra parts a plant cell has that an animal cell doesn’t.
How a plant cell works
A plant cell has to do two things an animal cell does not: make its own food and hold the plant up without a skeleton. Its extra parts do exactly those jobs. Chloroplasts capture light energy and use it to turn carbon dioxide and water into glucose. The cell wall and the large vacuole work together to keep the cell rigid.
When the vacuole is full of water, it presses the cytoplasm against the cell wall, and the cell becomes turgid, like a pumped-up tyre. When a plant runs short of water, the vacuoles shrink, the cells go soft (flaccid) and the plant wilts. Water it, and the cells fill up again.
Not every plant cell has chloroplasts: root cells live in the dark and have none. Plant cells also tend to be larger and more box-shaped than animal cells, because the cell wall gives them a fixed shape.
What makes a plant cell different
- جدار الخلية — a rigid layer of cellulose outside the membrane that holds the cell's shape.
- البلاستيدات الخضراء — green organelles that carry out photosynthesis.
- Vacuole — one large sac of water and sugars that keeps the cell firm.
A plant cell still has a nucleus, cytoplasm, mitochondria, ribosomes and the other organelles common to every cell — see the animal cell diagram for those. Plant cells don't have centrioles or lysosomes.
Open the plant cell in 3D below: slice it open to see the vacuole pushing the nucleus aside, and pull the chloroplasts out one at a time.
الأسئلة الشائعة
What three things does a plant cell have that an animal cell doesn’t?
A cell wall (for support), chloroplasts (for photosynthesis) and one large permanent vacuole (which keeps the cell firm with water pressure).
What is the cell wall made of?
Cellulose, a tough carbohydrate. It sits outside the cell membrane and stops the cell bursting when it fills with water.
What do chloroplasts do?
They contain chlorophyll, which absorbs light. Inside, photosynthesis turns carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen.
Why is the vacuole so big in a plant cell?
It stores water and keeps the cell turgid (firm): the pressure from a full vacuole pushes outward and is what holds a non-woody plant upright.
