Excretory/Urinary
The Excretory System (3min11sec)
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Urinary System
Your body takes nutrients from food and uses them to maintain all bodily functions including energy and self-repair. After your body has taken what it needs from the food, waste products are left behind in the blood and in the bowel. The urinary system works with the lungs, skin, and intestines—all of which also excrete wastes—to keep the chemicals and water in your body balanced.
Simply put, the urinary system is the organ system that produces, stores, and eliminates urine. In humans it includes two kidneys, two ureters, the bladder, and the urethra.
Did you know adults eliminate about a quart and a half of urine each day. The amount depends on many factors, especially the amounts of fluid and food a person consumes and how much fluid is lost through sweat and breathing.
Your body takes nutrients from food and uses them to maintain all bodily functions including energy and self-repair. After your body has taken what it needs from the food, waste products are left behind in the blood and in the bowel. The urinary system works with the lungs, skin, and intestines—all of which also excrete wastes—to keep the chemicals and water in your body balanced.
Simply put, the urinary system is the organ system that produces, stores, and eliminates urine. In humans it includes two kidneys, two ureters, the bladder, and the urethra.
Did you know adults eliminate about a quart and a half of urine each day. The amount depends on many factors, especially the amounts of fluid and food a person consumes and how much fluid is lost through sweat and breathing.
Urinary System Anatomy
The kidney is the main organ of excretion, which is the process of removing nitrogen wastes from the body. Nitrogen compounds, mainly ammonia, are produced during the breakdown of proteins. Ammonia is very toxic, so it is quickly combined with carbon dioxide to produce urea. If left to accumulate, the body would be overwhelmed within days and the major organs would stop functioning. As a result, the kidney is one of the body’s essential organs. People whose kidneys fail must submit to artificial removal of wastes by dialysis, or have their kidneys replaced with a donated kidney.
As well as excretion, the kidneys regulate water concentration and pH (acid/base balance.) Additionally, the kidneys also release hormones important in Na+ regulation (renin) and red blood cell production (erythropoietin).
Labelling the Urinary System: online activity
The kidney is the main organ of excretion, which is the process of removing nitrogen wastes from the body. Nitrogen compounds, mainly ammonia, are produced during the breakdown of proteins. Ammonia is very toxic, so it is quickly combined with carbon dioxide to produce urea. If left to accumulate, the body would be overwhelmed within days and the major organs would stop functioning. As a result, the kidney is one of the body’s essential organs. People whose kidneys fail must submit to artificial removal of wastes by dialysis, or have their kidneys replaced with a donated kidney.
As well as excretion, the kidneys regulate water concentration and pH (acid/base balance.) Additionally, the kidneys also release hormones important in Na+ regulation (renin) and red blood cell production (erythropoietin).
Labelling the Urinary System: online activity
Kidney Anatomy and Urine Formation
Every day your body filters about 180 litres of water in the blood, which is the equivalent of a large oil drum. Obviously the fluids in the blood are filtered more than once, since the body’s total volume of blood is about 5 litres. From these 180 litres, about 2 litres of urine (approximately 1% of the volume being filtered) is produced each day. This varies as the kidneys balance water concentration, pH, and salt concentration.
Study the following diagram of the anatomy of the kidney. You will be responsible for knowing these structures.
Every day your body filters about 180 litres of water in the blood, which is the equivalent of a large oil drum. Obviously the fluids in the blood are filtered more than once, since the body’s total volume of blood is about 5 litres. From these 180 litres, about 2 litres of urine (approximately 1% of the volume being filtered) is produced each day. This varies as the kidneys balance water concentration, pH, and salt concentration.
Study the following diagram of the anatomy of the kidney. You will be responsible for knowing these structures.
The functions of these structures are provided in the following table.