3.1.2 - TRANSPORT IN ANIMALS Flashcards
Give reasons why multicellular organisms usually need a transport system, but unicellular organisms don’t
- Multicellular organisms are relatively big, having a lower SA:V ratio (unicellular organisms are usually smaller with a higher SA:V ratio)
- A lot of multicellular organisms (e.g. mammals) are very active - large no. of cells respiring very quickly so they need a constant, rapid supply of glucose + oxygen
-Multicellular organisms have a higher metabolic rate
What is the metabolic rate?
The speed at which chemical reactions take place in the body
Describe why a fish’s circulatory system is described as a single circulatory system.
The heart pumps blood to the gills (to pick up oxygen) and then on through the rest of the body (to deliver oxygen) in a single circuit
BLOOD ONLY PASSES THROUGH THE HEART ONCE FOR EACH COMPLETE CIRCUIT OF THE BODY
Describe why the mammalian circulatory system is described as a double circulatory system.
- The heart is divided down the middle in mammals
- The right side of the heart pumps blood to the lungs (to pick up oxygen)
- From the lungs, blood travels to the left side of the heart, which pumps it to the rest of the body
- When blood returns to the heart, it enters the right side again
THE BLOOD PASSES THROUGH THE HEART TWICE IN A COMPLETE CIRCUIT OF THE BODY
What are the names of the two systems that our mammalian circulatory system is made up of
- Pulmonary system
- Systematic system
Give one advantage of the mammalian double circulatory system
The heart can give the blood an extra push between the lungs and the rest of the body, making the blood travel faster, so oxygen is delivered to the tissues more quickly
What is a closed circulatory system?
The blood is enclosed inside blood vessels
All vertebrates (e.g. fish and mammals) have a closed circulatory system
What is an open circulatory system?
Blood isn’t enclosed in blood vessels all the time. It instead flows freely through the body cavity
Some invertebrates (e.g. insects) have an open circulatory system
Describe the structures of a closed circulatory system
- The heart pumps blood into arteries, these branch out into millions of capillaries
- Some substances like oxygen and glucose diffuse from the blood in the capillaries into the body cells, but the blood stays inside the blood vessels as it circulates
- Veins take the blood back to the heart
Describe the structures of an open circulatory system
- The heart is segmented | It contracts in a a wave, starting from the back, pumping the blood into a single main artery
- That artery opens up into the body cavity
- The blood flows around the insect’s organs, gradually making its way back into the heart segments through a series of valves
In insects, the blood doesn’t supply the insect’s cells with oxygen - this is done by the tracheal system
Name the five types of blood vessel
- Arteries
- Arterioles
- Capillaries
- Venules
- Veins
Explain the structure of arteries and their role
- Carry blood from the heart to the rest of the body
- Thick, muscular walls + elastic tissue to stretch and recoil as the heart beats (helps maintain high pressure)
- Endothelium (inner lining) of folded, allowing artery to expand (and helps maintain high pressure)
- All arteries carry oxygenated blood except for pulmonary arteries, which take deoxygenated blood to the lungs
- Narrow lumen
Explain the structure of arterioles and their role
- Arteries branch into arterioles (smaller than arteries)
- Layer of smooth muscle - less elastic tissue
- Smooth muscle allows to expand or contract, controlling amount of blood flow to tissues
Explain the structure of capillaries and their role
- Smallest of the blood vessels (one cell thick)
- Substances like glucose + oxygen are exchanged between cells + capillaries, so adapted for efficient diffusion
Explain the structure of venules and their role
- Very thin walls that contain some muscle cells
Explain the structure of veins and their role
- Venules join together to form veins
- Take blood back to the heart under low pressure
- Wider lumen than equivalent arteries, with very little elastic or muscle tissue
- Contain valves to stop blood flowing backwards
- Blood flow through the veins is helped by contraction of the body muscles surrounding them
- All veins carry deoxygenated blood except for the pulmonary veins (carry oxygenated blood to the heart from the lungs)
What is tissue fluid?
The fluid that surrounds cells
What is a capillary bed?
The network of capillaries in an area of tissues
Describe the process of pressure filtration
- At the start of the capillary bed, nearest the arteries, the hydrostatic pressure inside the capillaries is greater than the hydrostatic pressure in the tissue fluid | This difference in hydrostatic pressure forces fluid out of the capillaries and into the spaces around the cells, forming tissue fluid
- As fluid leaves, the hydrostatic pressure reduces in the capillaries - so the hydrostatic pressure is much lower at the end of the capillary bed that’s nearest to the venules
- There is another form of pressure at work here called oncotic pressure - this is generated by plasma proteins present in the capillaries which lower the water potential | At the venule end of the capillary bed, the water potential in the capillaries is lower than the water potential in the tissue fluid due to the fluid loss from the capillaries and the high oncotic pressure | This means some water re-enters the capillaries from the tissue fluid at the venule end by osmosis
What happens to excess tissue fluid left over from pressure filtration?
- The smallest lymph vessels are the lymph capillaries
- Excess tissue fluid passes into lymph vessels | once inside, it’s called lymph
- Valves in the lymph vessels stop the lymph going backwards
- Lymph gradually moves towards the main lymph vessels in the thorax (chest cavity) | Here, its; returned to the blood, near the heart
List the components of blood
- Red blood cells
- White blood cells
- Platelets
- Proteins
- Water
- Dissolved solutes
List the components of tissue fluid
- Very few white blood cells
- Very few proteins
- Water
- Dissolved solutes
List the components of lymph
- White blood cells
- Only antibodies (proteins)
- Water
- Dissolved solutes