Biology › Section P · Breathing, circulation, and excretion › Topic P.7
Osmoregulation and the kidneys
Every cell swells or shrinks with the solutes around it, so animals must manage their water and salt with care. In mammals that job falls mainly to the kidneys, which filter the blood plasma many times a day and hand back almost everything worth keeping.
In this topic
- Water in, water out
- Osmotic pressure counts particles
- Worked example: will the cell swell or shrink?
- Conformers, regulators and fish
- The kidneys and urinary tract
- Anatomy of a nephron
- Filtration, reabsorption and secretion
- The loop of Henle builds a gradient
- Worked example: when glucose reaches the urine
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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