If you were amazed by the beautiful roads that transport cars and bikes, then take a moment to see within yourself. There is this amazing network of blood vessels inside your body that covers a distance of an astonishing 100,000 km. These are responsible for the transportation of human beings. Let us take a closer look.
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Circulatory System and its Components
In human beings, the various organs associated with this system include the heart, lungs, blood vessels, capillaries, and blood. The heart is the pumping organ that squirts out blood. The heart does this with so much pressure that it is capable of squirting blood up to 9 meters high. It never stops and beats continuously so that blood can travel to all parts of the body.
Your blood travels through these blood vessels transporting oxygen, carbon dioxide, digested food, hormones and even waste products. It is amazing to see how transportation in human beings is carried out by the circulatory system, with the heart and the vast network of blood vessels.
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Blood
Blood is an important fluid connective tissue. It is mainly composed of plasma and blood cells. There are three types of blood cells, namely, red blood cells, white blood cells, and blood platelets. The RBCs have haemoglobin, an iron-containing complex protein. The WBCs are the cells that help in fighting diseases and attack any foreign bodies in the blood. The blood platelets are the ones that help in clotting of blood.
In human beings, there is a phenomenon called double circulation that occurs, which is an efficient way. The heart pumps the blood, and through the various blood vessels, it travels to different organs and then comes back again to the heart. Now, this flow of blood in humans occurs in two pathways called the pulmonary pathway and the systemic pathway.
This system ensures that the deoxygenated blood (blood carrying carbon dioxide) from the right side of the heart goes to the lungs, where gaseous exchange occurs. Blood gets filled with oxygen from the lungs and carbon dioxide is given out to the lungs(from where it leaves the body). The oxygenated blood then travels from the left side of the heart to all other parts of the body.
The double circulation seen here ensures that there is no mixing of oxygenated blood and deoxygenated blood. There is also an efficient supply of oxygen to the body cells and a greater rate of blood flow in the body.
Heart
How do the oxygenated blood and the deoxygenated blood not get mixed? Firstly, they travel in different blood vessels. Secondly, in the heart, there are four chambers. The blood without oxygen and the blood with oxygen flow into different chambers.
The human heart is a muscular organ, which has four chambers. The two upper chambers called the right atrium and the left atrium, and the two lower chambers called the right ventricle and left ventricle. The right atrium and the right ventricle together may be called the right heart. The left atrium with the left ventricle together can be called as the left heart. All the chambers of the heart are separated by muscular walls called septum.
Read about the Excretion System in Humans, Plants and Animals.
Blood Vessels
Arteries and veins are the main blood vessels. These are interconnected by a network of smaller vessels called capillaries. Â Veins carry deoxygenated blood to the right side of the heart whereas arteries carry oxygenated blood away from the heart to different parts of the body.
Lymphatic system
In human beings and vertebrates, the lymphatic system acts as a subsystem of the circulatory system. It also has a role to play in the transportation in human beings. Lymph is a special fluid called the tissue fluid. It plays a role in the exchange process of nutrients and gases that occurs through blood. Any excess fluid remaining in the cells and tissues is collected by the lymph and is drained into the veins, which carry blood.
Read about the Transportation in Plants and Nutrition in Plants.
Solved Questions For You
Q: Write a short note on blood pressure in humans.
Ans: Blood pressure is an important vital sign of health. It is the force that blood applies on the walls of the blood vessels. It is expressed in terms of systolic pressure and diastolic pressure. The unit of measurement is mmHg. The normal blood pressure range is 120/80 mmHg.
FAQ’s for You
Q1. What are the components of the transport system in human beings? What are the functions of these components?Â
Answer:Â The components of the transport system in human beings are the heart, blood, and blood vessels. The function of the heart is to pump oxygenated blood throughout the body and receives deoxygenated blood from the various body parts and sends this impure blood to the lungs for oxygenation. Blood has three main functions: transport, protection, and regulation. Blood transports the following substances: Gases, namely oxygen between the lungs and rest of the body. Nutrients from the digestive tract and storage sites to the rest of the body. The function of blood vessels is to transport blood throughout the body.
Q2. How is oxygen and carbon dioxide transported in human beings?
Answer:Â Oxygen and carbon dioxide in human beings are transported in various ways. The majority of oxygen, that is 97%, is transported as oxyhaemoglobin, a combined state of oxygen and haemolgoin.
The remaining oxygen is present in the form of dissolved oxygen in blood plasma. The majority of carbon dioxide, that is about 70%, is transported in the form of bicarbonate in the blood plasma.
This bicarbonate is involved in maintaining the pH of the blood. About 23% of carbon dioxide is transported in the form of carbminohaemoglobin, a combined state of carbon dioxide and haemoglobin. The remaining 7% is present in the form of dissolved carbon dioxide in plasma.
Q.3Â Name the body structure concerned with the given functional activity: Combines with the oxygen in the lungs
Answer:Â The Haemoglobin in the blood combines with the oxygen in the lungs to form oxyhaemoglobin. The oxyhaemoglobin is then transferred to the different parts of the body. So, the correct answer is ‘haemoglobin’.
Q4. pH of human blood is
Answer:Â pH is the measure of acidity or basicity of a substance, which ranges from 0 -14. Blood has a pH in the range of 7.35 to 7.45 making it slightly basic. Blood having a pH below than 7.35 is considered acidosis and above 7.45 is considered to be alkalosis.
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