TOPIC 1: Lifestyle, Health and Risk Flashcards
What is mass flow system?
transports substances in bulk down a pressure gradient
What are the features of a mass flow system?
- circulatory fluid
- contracting pump
- tubes
Why do some organisms require a mass transport system?
- small SA/V ratio, higher metabolic rate, increasing diffusion distance
- overcome the limits of diffusion
How does blood circulate in an open circulatory system?
- heart pumps blood into cavities
- when heart relaxes, blood is drawn back through valves
Why are closed circulatory systems better? (2)
- blood enclosed in vessels and kept at high pressure throughout the body
- oxygen concentration gradient high because oxygen and carbon dioxide don’t mix
What is a single circulatory system?
- organs in series
- heart pumps deoxygenated blood to the gills where gas exchange takes place
What is a double circulatory system?
pulmonary and systemic circuits (blood passes through twice;
organs arranged in parallel
What is the advantage of organs being arranged in parallel?
all organs receive the same blood pressure and oxygen concentration is kept high for all organs
What are the advantages of having a double circulatory system?
blood flows through the heart twice so this gives the blood an extra boost, reducing time taken for blood to circulate around the body
Why do birds and mammals have double circulatory systems?
high metabolic rate as oxygen and glucose required for metabolic processes can be delivered to cells rapidly to meet organism’s needs
Why is the cardiac muscle on the left side of the heart thicker than the right?
- left side needs to pump blood around the whole body
- pulmonary circuit needs a lower pressure to prevent damage to vessels in the lung
Why would 3 chambers not work for mammals, like they do for amphibians?
- oxygenated and deoxygenated blood mix
- mammals are warm blooded and more active so they have a higher demand for O2
Why does water have a dipole?
v-shaped structure leads to uneven charge distribution
Describe water’s solvent properties & why they’re significant
- good solvent for other polar molecules (i.e.salt) so hydrophilic molecules can be transported easily and vital biochemical reactions can take place in cytoplasm
- bad solvent for hydrophobic molecules so lipid forms bilayer
Describe water’s thermal properties and significance
- high specific heat capacity so water is a good temperature buffer
- high latent heat of evaporation so organisms can cool down effectively as sweat evaporates without losing lots of water
- high latent heat of fusion so organisms can survive in cold
- water is liquid at room temp so good transport medium
Describe water’s density and significance
water has a higher density than ice so ice can form at the surface of water allowing organisms below to survive
Describe water’s hydrostatic property and significance
low compressibility allows buoyancy so organisms can survive in deep waters
Describe water’s attractive properties and significance
- high cohesion (stick to one another) so water can travel up xylem vessels in unbroken columns
- high adhesion so ware attracted to surfaces so water can travel up xylem due to capillary action
What is the function of arteries?
transport of blood & oxygen from heart to tissues
What is the function of veins?
transport of deoxygenated blood from tissues to heart
What is the function of capillaries?
exchange of materials between blood and tissues
Describe the structure of an artery
- narrow lumen
- thicker walls
- more collagen, smooth muscle and elastic fibres to withstand pressure
Describe the structure of a vein
- wide lumen
- thinner walls
- less collagen and smooth muscle, fewer muscle fibres
- valves to prevent back-flow
Describe the structure of a capillary
- no muscle
- narrow so one RBC can pass & blood can slow down due to friction to allow exchange between blood and tissues
Describe blood flow in veins
- valves prevent backflow due to low pressure in veins
- veins pass between skeletal muscle which contract to squeeze vein
What are the steps in the cardiac cycle?
atrial systole, ventricular systole, cardiac diastole
What happens in atrial systole?
- Blood returns to the heart under low pressure due to skeletal muscle
- Atria fill without contraction due to higher pressure in veins
- As atria fill, pressure increases, forcing AV valves to open and blood leaks into ventricles
- Atria contract to force remaining blood into ventricles
What happens in ventricular systole?
- After a slight delay, ventricles contract from base upwards
- Pressure in ventricles increases so AV valves close to prevent blood from flowing back into aorta, and SL valves open
- Blood pushed out of arteries
What happens in cardiac diastole?
- Atria and ventricles relax due to elastic recoil (lower pressure results in back pull)
- SL valves close, preventing back flow into ventricles
- Coronary arteries fill
- Low pressure helps draw blood into atria from veins
Describe the route blood takes in the body
Body - Vena Cava - RA - (tricuspid valve) - RV - (pulp. semilunar valves) - Pulmonary Arteries - Lungs - Pulmonary Veins - LA - (bicuspid valve) - LV - (aortic semilunar valves) - Aorta - Body
What is the role of the pericardium? (2)
- secretes lubricant to prevent friction
- connective tissue attaching heart to tissue
What is the role of the tendinous cords?
prevent valves from inverting
What is the pericardium?
outer layer of the heart
What is the role of the septum?
prevents oxygenated and deoxygenated blood from mixing
What is the role of the coronary arteries?
provide oxygen and glucose for aerobic respiration in cardiac muscle
What does the right side of the heart do?
receives deoxygenated blood and pumps it to the lungs
What does the left side of the heart do?
receives oxygenated blood from the lungs and pumps it to the body
What does the term myogenic mean, in terms of the heart?
can contract without external stimulation
How is heart rate controlled?
- Depolarisation at SAN, generating electrical impulse in wall of RA which spreads across atria, causing both to contract at the same time
- AVN node receives electrical impulse (0.13s delay before reaching ventricles)
- After delay, signal reaches Purkinje fibres and bundle of His
- First ventricular cells to be depolarised are at the apex of the heart so contraction is apex upwards
Why is there a 0.13s delay before the impulse from the AVN reaches the ventricles?
to ensure atria have fully contracted so ventricles are filled before they contract
What are contractions of cardiac muscle initiated by?
small changes in electric charge of cardiac muscle cells
slight negative = depolarisation
What does the P wave on an ECG represent?
atrial systole