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Bio U1
excretory
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James Barlow
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Excretory system
Helps to
maintain water balance
as well as excrete nitrogen and other
toxic waste products
from the body to the external environment
Excretory system
Two main functions:
Remove
nitrogenous
waste
Remove excess
water
to maintain
water balance
in cells and tissues
Removing
nitrogenous
waste
Created by breaking down
nitrogen
containing compounds such as:
Nucleotides
, Amino acids
When
nitrogenous
wastes get built up in the body they become toxic so it is important that they get
removed
Nitrogen waste are generated from the
breakdown
of
amino acids
Amino acids are required for many
bodily
functions but cannot be stored in the body as the
amine
group toxic to cells
Any excess amino acids most be broken down to remove their
amine
groups and are excreted via
ammonia
Kidneys
Filtering
blood
and removing
waste
materials and toxic substances
Providing
water
balance
Renal artery
Carries blood from the heart to the
kidney
Renal vein
Carries blood from the
kidney
to the
heart
Renal cortex
Contains the
glomerulus
, the proximal and distal convoluted tubules of
nephrons
Renal
medulla
Contains the loop of
Henle
and
collecting tubule
of each nephron
Renal pelvis
Functions as a pathway for the
urine
before it moves to the
bladder
Ureter
Carries the urine from the
renal
pelvis to the
bladder
The
nephron
Key component of the kidney
Each kidney contains 1 million nephrons
Roles include:
filter blood
, remove toxic and
waste
products, reabsorb nutrients
Kidney
filters
1.6L of
blood
daily
Glomerulus
A ball of
capillaries
where the
blood
arrives to be filtered
Bowmans capsule
Surround the
glomerulus
, where the filtrate is formed when
blood pressure
forces the fluid from the capillaries in the glomerulus
Proximal
tube
Absorbs water,
sodium
and
glucose
back into the blood
Loop of Henle
Long tube where reabsorption takes place of water back into the
blood
as well as
salt
Distal tubule
Sodium and water are further
reabsorbed
Collecting tubule
More water is absorbed in here as well as
salt
this further concentrates the filtrate, then the filtrate is processed into
urine