Lecture Notes: Your Transportation System and Blood Exchange

Vocabulary flashcards covering key ideas about the body's transportation system and how substances exit the blood.

Circulatory System

The body's transportation system that moves blood and the substances it carries (oxygen, nutrients, wastes) to and from all body tissues.

Blood

The fluid that circulates through the heart and vessels, carrying nutrients, gases, hormones, and wastes.

Capillaries

The smallest blood vessels where exchange of gases, nutrients, and wastes occurs between blood and surrounding tissues.

Diffusion

The passive movement of particles from an area of higher concentration to lower concentration, enabling exchange across capillary walls.

Diffusion Distance

The distance over which diffusion must occur for substances to move from blood to tissue; most diffusion happens across capillary walls.