Zusammenfassung der Ressource
BI cells - exchanging substances
- gas exchange happens in the lungs
- the job of the lungs is to transfer oxygen to the blood
and to remove waste carbon dioxide from it
- to do this the lungs contain millions of little air sacs
called alveoli where gas exchange takes place.
- the alveoli are specialised to maximise the
diffusion of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
they have:
- an enormous surface area (about 75 cm2 in
humans)
- a moist thin lining for dissolving gases
- very thin walls
- a good blood supply
- the villi provide a really big surface area
- the inside of the small intestine is covered in millions and
millions of these tiny little projections called villi.
- they increase the surface area in a big way so that digested
food is absorbed much more quickly into the blood
- they have :
- a single layer of surface cells
- a very good blood supply to assist quickly
absorption
- the structure of leaves lets gases diffuse in and out of
cells
- carbon dioxide diffuses into the air spaces within the leaf, then
it diffuses into the cells where photosynthesis happens.
- the leaf's structure is adapted so that this can happen easily.
- the underneath of the leaf is an exchange surface. it's covered in
biddy little holes called stomata which carbon dioxide diffuses in
through
- oxygen (produced in photosynthesis) and water vapour also diffuse
out through the stomata.
- the size of the stomata is controlled by guard
cells. These close the stomata if the plant is losing
water faster than it's being replaced by the roots.
- without these guard cells the plant would soon wilt
- the flattened shape of the leaf increases the area of this
exchange surface so that it's more effective
- the walls of the cells inside the leaf form another exchange surface.
The air spaces inside the leaf increase the area of this surface so
there's more chance for carbon dioxide to get into the cells
- the water vapour evaporates from the cells inside the leaf. Then it
escapes by diffusion because there's a lot of it inside the leaf and less
of it in the air outside
- Gills have a large surface area for gas exchange
- the gills are the gas exchange surface in fish
- water (containing oxygen) enters the fish through it's mouth
and passes out through the gills. As this happens, oxygen
diffuses from the water into the blood in the gills and carbon
dioxide diffuses from the blood into the water
- each gill is made out of lots of thin plates called gill
filaments, which give a big surface area for exchange of
gases
- the gill filaments are covered in lots of tiny
structures called lamellae which increase the
surface area even more.
- the lamellae have lots of of blood capillaries to speed up
diffusion
- they also have a thin surface layer of cells to
minimise the distance that the gases have to
diffuse
- Blood flows through the lamellae in one direction and water flows over in
the opposite direction.
- this maintains a large concentration gradient between the
water and the blood
- the concentration of oxygen on the water is always higher than
that in the blood, so as much oxygen as possible diffuses from the
water into the blood