Composition Of Blood

Question 1

What’s the liquid phase of blood?

Answer 1

Plasma

Question 2

What’s plasma made up of?

Answer 2

Water, proteins, sugars, minerals and waste products.

Blood cells, platelets and dissolved substances are suspended in the plasma.

Question 3

What does the solid phase of blood consist of?

Answer 3

Red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets

Question 4

What’s the percentage composition of blood?

Answer 4

55% plasma
44% red blood cells
1% white blood cells
Rest is platelets

Question 5

What do red blood cells contain?

Answer 5

An iron rich protein called hemoglobin that carry oxygen and CO2

Question 6

What do white blood cells do?

Answer 6

They defend the body against infections and diseases.

Question 7

What are platelets?

Answer 7

They’re fragments of cells that clot blood when a blood vessel breaks.

Question 8

What is blood?

Answer 8

Blood is a connective tissue

Question 9

What is known about the density/viscosity of blood?

Answer 9

Blood is thicker, more dense, and more adhesive than H2O.
It’s more viscous than H2O and flows 4-5x slower.

Question 10

What colour is blood?

Answer 10

Arterial blood is a red colour due to oxygenation

Venous blood appears blue but is actually a dark reddish blue.

Question 11

What is the temperature and pH of blood?

Answer 11

Blood has a pH between 7.35-7.45

Bloods temperature is 38*C

Question 12

What is plasma made up of?

Answer 12

90% H2O
Nutrients (Glucose, subunits of fats and proteins, cholesterol.)
Wastes (Lactic acid, urea.)
Hormones, vitamins, enzymes, gasses. (CO2, O2, N2)

Question 13

What do plasma electrolytes do?

Answer 13

They help maintain water balance and are vital for cell activities.

Question 14

What do blood proteins do?

Answer 14

They maintain water balance, transport lipids, fight disease (antibodies), and have clotting factors.

Question 15

What are red blood cells produced by?

Answer 15

They’re produced by stem cells in bone marrow

Question 16

What’s the life span of red blood cells?

Answer 16

120 days

Question 17

What are red blood cells responsible for?

Answer 17

They’re responsible for transporting O2 and CO2 to and from cells

Question 18

What’s hemoglobin?

Answer 18

An Fe containing protein that binds O2

Question 19

What do red blood cells lack?

Answer 19

Nuclei (in mammals)

Question 20

What are red blood cells destroyed by and at what rate?

Answer 20

They’re destroyed by the liver and white blood cells in the spleen.

2 million destroyed per second.

Question 21

What does a Biconcave shape accomplish in red blood cells?

Answer 21

It increases the surface area available for diffusion.

Question 22

What are platelets?

Answer 22

Fragments of larger cells called thrombocytes

Question 23

What are thrombocytes?

Answer 23

A cell that’s broken up into platelets.

Question 24

What do platelets lack?

Answer 24

Nuclei

Question 25

What’s the life span of a platelet?

Answer 25

1 week to 10 days

Question 26

What are platelets the key element in?

Answer 26

The clotting cascade

Question 27

What is the clotting cascade?

Answer 27

The process of forming a clot.

Question 28

What do platelets release when they become sticky?

Answer 28

Thromboplastin

Question 29

What produces active thrombin?

Answer 29

Thromboplastin + Ca+2 + prothrombin

Question 30

What does active thrombin change solvable fibrinogen into?

Answer 30

Threads of fibrin protein

Question 31

What do threads of fibrin protein form?

Answer 31

A clot

Question 32

Formation of a scab simplified

Answer 32

(Injured cells) - (enzymes release + sticky platelets) (releases) - (Thromboplastin + Ca+2 + prothrombin) - Thrombin (activates) - Fibrinogen (fibrin + platelets + RBCs) = Scab

Question 33

What’s another word for red blood cells?

Answer 33

Erythrocytes

Question 34

What’s another word for platelets?

Answer 34

Thrombocytes