Animal Circulatory System
Animal Circulatory System
FUNCTION
To carry digested food from the small intestine to all areas in the body which need it. To carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. To aid in the disposal of all wastes from the body. To distribute heat. To fight diseases by using white blood cells to fight off infection.
5. The most crucial demand on the circulatory system is the transport of oxygen and carbon dioxide to and from a gas exchange organ:
lungs or gills and the tissues.
While obviously adequate to the fish's needs, this is not a very efficient system. The pressure generated by contraction of the ventricle is almost entirely dissipated when the blood enters the gills.
THE CARDIAC CYCLE 1) alternating periods of contraction (systole), during which the heart is pumping blood, and 2) relaxation (diastole), during which the heart's chambers are filling with blood. An average adult has a heart rate of about 70 beats per minute. At this rate, a complete cardiac cycle takes roughly 0.8 seconds to complete. 1) 0.1s is atrial systole, 2) followed by about 0.3s of ventricular systole, 3) followed by about 0.4s of atrial and ventricular diastole.
Arteries: Carry blood away from the heart always. Have thick muscular walls Have a pulse Deep under the skin Have no valves Veins: Carry blood to the heart. Have thin walls Do not have a pulse Near surface of the skin Have valves to stop back-flow of blood. Capillaries: Are small blood vessels acting as veins and arteries. The walls of capillaries are only one cell thick so substances (Food or cells) can easily get through them and into the blood or out.
Composition of Blood
1. The blood is made up of different types of cells and a liquid medium for which they are transported. 2. The cells in the blood are Red Blood Cell (Corpuscles), White Blood Cells and Platelets. 3. Red Blood Corpuscles are technically not cells at all, as they do not contain a nucleus. Their red colour is from a substance known as haemoglobin. 4. Plasma is the liquid medium of blood.