High School Biology : Understanding Circulatory Function

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for High School Biology

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : Understanding Circulatory Function

What average volume of lymphatic fluid passes back into venous circulation each day?

Possible Answers:

Less than 10 milliliters

250 milliliters

5 liters

1-1.5 liters

25 milliliters

Correct answer:

1-1.5 liters

Explanation:

The function of the lymphatic system is to keep fluids out of the interstitium and connective tissue by returning it to the blood. Fluid leaks out of capillaries because of their thin walls. The lymphatic vessels collect this fluid and return it to the heart. When the lymphatic system is impaired, this fluid can accumulate in the tissue and cause swelling, known as edema.

Most of the lymph re-enters the venous circulation through the thoracic duct, and the volume is somewhere around a liter to a liter and a half per day.  

Example Question #2 : Understanding Circulatory Function

The heart pumps blood throughout the body. Upon arriving at the heart, blood if first pumped to the lungs to beomce oxygenated. It then returns to the heart once more before being pumped to the rest of the body.

What is the correct order of chambers as blood passes through the heart?

Possible Answers:

Right ventricle, right atrium, left ventricle, left atrium

Left atrium, left ventricle, right atrium, right ventricle

Right Atrium, left atrium, right ventricle, left ventricle

Right Atrium, right ventricle, left atrium, left ventricle

Right ventricle, left ventricle, right atrium, left atrium

Correct answer:

Right Atrium, right ventricle, left atrium, left ventricle

Explanation:

Deoxygenated blood enters the heart through the right atrium, where it then flows into the right ventricle. The right ventricle pumps the deoxygenated blood through thepulmonary arteries to the lungs, where it becomes oxygenated. Oxygenated blood returns to the heart through the pulmonary veins, which empty into the left atrium. Blood then flows into the left ventricle, which contracts to pump the blood through the aorta and toward the rest of the body.

Example Question #3 : Understanding Circulatory Function

What is the primary purpose of the circulatory system?

Possible Answers:

Provide a site for gas exchange

Destroy foreign pathogens

Deliver oxygen to tissues and transport blood and lymph

Maintain fluid balance

Correct answer:

Deliver oxygen to tissues and transport blood and lymph

Explanation:

In the circulatory system, the heart acts as the pump, the vessels are conduits allowing blood and lymph flow, and the transport fluid is the blood, which can deliver nutrients and oxygen to tissues and cells throughout the body. Thus, the primary purpose of the circulatory system is, as the correct answer choice states, to deliver oxygen to tissues and transport blood and lymph.

The respiratory system is responsible for gas exchange, while the excretory system is responsible for maintaining fluid balance. The immune system is responsible for destroying foreign pathogens.

Example Question #4 : Understanding Circulatory Function

A person with no antigens present on their blood cells has what blood type?

Possible Answers:

AB-

O-

AB+

O+

Correct answer:

O-

Explanation:

There can be two classes of antigens on blood cells: one can distinguish ABO blood types and the second is the Rhesus factor (Rh factor), which determines positive or negative blood type.

A person with type O blood would not carry any antigens on their cells; however this individual’s plasma would contain anti-A and anti-B antibodies. Interestingly, this is why type O blood individuals are commonly known as universal donors, as their cells do not elicit immune responses from any other blood cell types. An individual with Rh- would not carry the Rh factor antigen on the surface of their cells. Thus, O-, correctly identifies the blood type of an individual lacking any of these antigens on their blood cells.

Example Question #5 : Understanding Circulatory Function

What are the four main components of blood?

Possible Answers:

Red blood cells, platelets, plasma, white blood cells

Red blood cells, platelets, white blood cells, hemoglobin

Plasma, hemoglobin, oxygen, platelets

Red blood cells, oxygen, hemoglobin, platelets

Correct answer:

Red blood cells, platelets, plasma, white blood cells

Explanation:

All of the given answer options are contained in blood at some point; however the main components are red blood cells (RBC’s), platelets, plasma, and white blood cells (WBC’s). Platelets are involved in coagulation, while white blood cells are involved in immunity. Plasma refers to the fluid matrix of the blood, and contains proteins, gases, amino acids, and hormones.

Hemoglobin is a specific protein located in red blood cells. Oxygen binds to hemoglobin for transport through the boold. Neither of these are considered major components of blood.

Example Question #6 : Understanding Circulatory Function

A universal donor has __________ blood, and a universal acceptor has __________ blood.

Possible Answers:

AB- . . . O+

AB+ . . . O-

O- . . . AB+

O- . . . AB-

Correct answer:

O- . . . AB+

Explanation:

The universal donor blood type is O-, because this blood can be transfused to any of the ABO blood types, as well as to those with Rh+ and Rh-. O-negative blood is devoid of any antigens, but carries antibodies against A, B, and Rh.

AB+ contains both A and B antigens that would elicit an immune responses against any blood containing anti-A or anti-B antibodies. However, AB blood can receive all types of blood because it contains no antibodies. Additionally, AB+ blood carries the Rh antigen and is void of Rh antibodies. This makes AB+ blood the universal acceptor.

Example Question #7 : Understanding Circulatory Function

What is the largest artery in the body?

Possible Answers:

Pulmonary artery

Mitral valve

Superior vena cava

Aorta

Pulmonary vein

Correct answer:

Aorta

Explanation:

The aorta is the largest artery in the body. Like other arteries, the aorta's walls are made up of several layers, one of the largest layers being an elastic layer, which stretches and recoils in response to high pressure blood being pumped through it. Also, recall that all arteries carry blood away from the heart. Blood from the left ventricle of the heart is pumped into the aorta through the aortic semilunar valve. The venae cavae are the largest veins in the body. Like all veins, they carry blood back to the heart. Although the pulmonary artery is quite large, it is not as large as the aorta. Recall that the left ventricle is larger than the right ventricle, and thus more blood is pumped from the left ventricle through the aorta than is pumped from the right ventricle through the pulmonary artery.

Example Question #8 : Understanding Circulatory Function

Which of the following blood vessels are only one cell thick?

Possible Answers:

Arteries

Arterioles

Capillaries

Veins

Venule

Correct answer:

Capillaries

Explanation:

Capillaries are the smallest blood vessels. They are responsible for diffusion of gasses and other materials across their walls. For example, alveoli in the lungs are surrounded by capillaries. There, carbon dioxide from the blood diffuses through the capillary walls, into the alveoli, to be exhaled. The opposite is true for oxygen. All of these other blood vessels have walls which are too think to allow any exchange of materials.

Example Question #221 : Organs And Organ Systems

What is the name of the wall that separtes the left side of the heart from the right side?

Possible Answers:

Interventicular septum

Bicuspid valve

Atrium

Vena cava

Ventricle 

Correct answer:

Interventicular septum

Explanation:

The name of this wall is the interventricular septum. It keeps the right and left sides of the heart separate. Remember the importance of keeping these chambers separate; the circulatory system is actually two circuits: pulmonary and systemic. Pulmonary circulation involves blood traveling from the right side of the heart to the lungs to become oxygenated, then returning to the left side of the heart where it is pumped to the body, where the oxygen is taken up by cells. Lastly, the oxygen-poor blood returns from the body to the right side of the heart and the circuit starts again. Mixing blood between these two circuits would result in compromised circulatory system function. 

Example Question #10 : Understanding Circulatory Function

Which of the following vessels carries oxygen-poor blood to the heart?

Possible Answers:

Superior and inferior vena cavae

Pulmonary veins

all of these carry oxygen-poor blood to the heart

Aorta

Pulmonary arteries

Correct answer:

Superior and inferior vena cavae

Explanation:

Pulmonary arteries carry oxygen-poor blood from the heart to the lungs so that it can become oxygenated. Pulmonary veins carry oxygen-rich blood from the lungs back to the heart. The aorta carries oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the rest of the body and brain. The superior and inferior vena cavae carry oxygen-poor blood from the body back to the heart so that it can travel to the lungs and become oxygenated again.

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