Section 8 - Exchange and Transport in Animals Flashcards
Why do organisms exchange materials with the environment?
They must take in substances that they need and remove waste products.
What common substances are exchanged between organisms and the environment? Why and how is this done?
Oxygen, which is needed for respiration and enters the cells by diffusion.
Carbon Dioxide, a waste product of respiration and leaves the cells by diffusion.
Water, which is needed for various cellular processes and reactions and is taken in by cells through osmosis.
Urea, which is a waste product produced by animals from proteins, diffuse out of cells into the blood plasma before being removed by the kidneys.
What is the most important factor for an organism for exchanging substances with the environment?
Surface area to volume ratio.
SA:V
What is a ratio?
A comparison between two or more values.
Describe the trend between an organism’s size and its surface area to volume ratio?
The larger an organism is, the smaller its surface area compared to its volume.
How is surface area to volume ratio calculated?
start with; total surface area: total volume
Then divide both sides by the total volume to get the ratio in the n:1 form
What are exchange surfaces?
Surfaces in multicellular organisms specially adapted so that sufficient amounts of specific necessary substances can easily diffuse in or out of the organism.
Why don’t single-celled organisms have exchange surfaces?
They have a large surface area compared to their volume, so sufficient amounts necessary substances easily diffuse in and out of them without the need of exchange surfaces.
Why do most multicellular organisms require exchange surfaces?
They have a low surface area compared to their volume, so not enough amounts of necessary substances would be able to diffuse in and out of them normally, exchange surfaces increase the surface area so that the organism has access to sufficient levels of these substances.
What is a mass transport system?
A system found in multicellular organisms that moves substances from the exchange surfaces to the rest of the body.
What are alveoli?
A type of exchange surface found in the lungs of mammals. They’re well adapted for the diffusion of Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide.
What is the rate of diffusion?
The amount of a substance that diffuses over a certain period of time.
How does distance affect the rate of diffusion? Why?
The larger the distance a substance must diffuse across, the longer it will take to diffuse so the slower the rate of diffusion.
How does the concentration gradient affect the rate of diffusion? Why?
The greater the concentration gradient, the faster the rate of diffusion because there are more particles on one side compared to the other, this causes a rapid net movement in from the area of higher concentration to the area of lower concentration.
How does the surface area affect the rate of diffusion? Why?
The larger the surface area, the faster the rate of diffusion, this is because there are more spaces available for molecules to diffuse across.
What is the purpose of the lungs?
To transfer Oxygen into and remove Carbon Doxide from the blood.
How do the lungs work?
Millions of alveoli act like small air sacs where gas exchange occurs.
How does the blood help with the function of the lungs?
Blood arriving at the lungs has just returned from the rest of the body, meaning it contains very little Oxygen and a lot of Carbon Dioxide, which creates a large concentration gradient so the Carbon Dioxide diffuses out into the air in the lungs and Oxygen diffuses into the blood from the air where it is then transported around the body.
List the adaptations of the alveoli for their purpose. What is the purpose of each adaptation?
Their moist lining aids for dissolving gasses.
The blood supply maintains the concentration gradients between the body and the air.
The thin walls minimise the distance of diffusion, increasing the rate of diffusion.
The large surface area increases the rate of diffusion.
What is Fick’s law? How is this written in a formula?
A description of the relationship between the rate of diffusion, surface area, concentration difference and the thickness of the membrane. R∝(SA×CD)÷MT R= Rate of diffusion SA= Surface area CD= Concentration difference MT= Thickness of membrane
What does Fick’s Law mean?
The rate of diffusion is proportional to the surface area multiplied by the concentration difference all divided by the thickness of the membrane.
What are the four main parts of blood?
Red blood cells, White blood cells, Platelets and Plasma.
What are red blood cells also called?
Erythrocytes.
What is the purpose of red blood cells?
To carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body’s cells.
How are red blood cells adapted to their function?
They have a biconcave disc shape, to give a larger surface area for absorbing oxygen.
They don’t have a nucleus for more room to carry oxygen.
They contain the pigment haemoglobin, which contains iron and bonds with oxygen in the lungs to form oxyhaemoglobin which allows the blood to store oxygen. The reverse happens in the rest of the body so that the cells can access the oxygen.
What are the two types of white blood cell?
Phagocytes and lymphocytes.
What is the purpose of white blood cells?
To defend against infection.
How do phagocytes carry out their purpose? What is this called?
They change shape to engulf foreign microorganisms, this is called phagocytosis.