exchange and transport Flashcards
what do living organisms need to keep them alive?
oxygen, water, glucose, amino acids, minerals
what do living organism need to get rid of?
carbon dioxide urea, creatinine
factors that affect the need for exchange systems
size of organism/ SA:Vol ratio/ diffusion distance
metabolic rate
endotherm/exotherm
unicellular vs multicellular organisms
unicellular e.g. amoeba has lower metabolic rate (lower demand for O2 and glucose), simple diffusion takes place across its plasma membrane e.g. O2: this is sufficient bc of short diffusion distance, so it can rely on simple diffusion alone and doesn’t need a specialised exchange surface
multicellular e.g. dolphin has small SA:Vol ratio and large diffusion distance, higher metabolic rate (very active), so have higher O2 demand and are endotherms so maintain body temp. therefore they have a specialised exchange surface (alveoli in lungs)
as an organism gets bigger, what means it needs a specialised exchange surface/ transport system?
as an organism gets bigger, it becomes more difficult for it to exchange substances across its outer surface, so it therefore needs a transport system which allows them to survive
as size of organism increases, what happens to its SA:vol ratio?
SA:Vol decreases
why do small organisms not require a specialised exchange surface or transport system?
e.g. unicellular amoeba
large enough SA:Vol for exchange to take place over their surface
all the cytoplasm is very close to the environment in which they live and so diffusion will supply oxygen etc
circumference of circle equation
2π r
area of circle equation
π r^2
surface area of cuboid equation
2(bh+bl+hl)
volume of cuboid equation
hbl
features of an efficient exchange surface??
large surface area
thin
good blood supply/ventilation
moist
permeable
why does an efficient exchange surface have a large surface area?
maximum number of molecules can diffuse per unit time
why is an efficient exchange surface thin?
reduced diffusion distance so faster rate of diffusion
why does an efficient exchange surface have good blood supply and/or ventilation?
maintains steep concentration gradient
why is an efficient exchange surface moist?
enables gases to dissolve
protects cells from drying out
why is an efficient exchange surface permeable?
gases can diffuse through cell membrane
what makes alveoli an efficient exchange surface?
large SA so max. no. of CO2 and O2 molecules can diffuse per unit time
alveolar walls are 1 cell thick (squamous epithelium cells= thin) so reduced diffusion distance
good blood supply, maintaining steep conc. gradients of O2 from alveoli into capillaries and CO2 from capillaries to alveoli (partial pressure gradient)
have moist lining (lung surfactant), enabling case to dissolve in it and then diffuse
permeable walls so gases can diffuse through.
property of water within alveoli
water has high surface tension bc the H2O molecules on the surface are pulled together by strong H bonds
what is pulmonary surfactant?
a mixture of lipids and proteins which is secreted into the alveolar space by epithelial type II cells
pulmonary surfactant function?
lowers the surface tension at the air/liquid interface within the alveoli of the lungs
this stops the walls of the alveoli sticking together and collapsing as we exhale
what happens when someone has respiratory distress syndrome?
no surfactant produced so high surface tension
alveoli stick together
cannot take breath
e.g. in newborn babies
what does pO2 stand for?
partial pressure of oxygen
what is partial pressure of oxygen?
concentration of O2 in a mixture of gases related to the pressure it contributes