Human Urinary System

• The Human Urinary System

  Consists of:

  1. a pair of kidneys
  2. a pair of ureters
  3. urinary blader
  4. urethra

  
• Kidney

  • bean-shaped organs that are embedded in a mass of fat in the abdominal cavity

  • excrete urea and excess salt and water as urine

  • 10 to 13 cm long, and 5 to 7 cm wide

  • left kidney is slightly higher than the right kidney

  • has a visible dark outer region and pale inner region

  • receives blood through the renal artery

  • returns blood through the renal vein

  • basic functional unit is the kidney tubule called the nephron

  
• Ureter


  • a narrow tube that connects the kidney to the urinary bladder
  • urine from each kidney passes through the ureter to the urinary bladder
• Urethra


  • the duct through which urine passes from the bladder to outside of the body