Urinary System

The urinary system has many different organs in order for it to work as a whole. Each organ does different functions. The urinary system consists of the two kidneys, the two ureters, the bladder, the two sphincter muscles, the nerves in the bladder, and the urethra. After your body takes what it needs from the food you eat waste products are then left behind in the blood. The urinary system works with the lungs, skin, and intestines to keep the chemicals and water in your body balanced. The urinary system removes urea from your body. Urea is made when the foods you eat that are high in protein are broken down in the body. Urea is then carried into the bloodstream to the kidneys by the renal arteries.



The kidneys are bean shaped organs. They are a brownish-purplish sort of color. The outside of the kidneys are very tough, but smooth. This is described as a fibrous tunic. The outer part has millions of nephrons which are the basic unit of the kidney. The kidney is divided into two layers. The outer cortex and the medulla. When the outer cortex is stripped off you then get the medulla. The inside you have a thick mesh of muscular fibers. This is also smooth, and very even. It is very red in color, unlike the outside which is of brownish-purplish coloring. It is more red in color because it has tiny blood vessels. The kidneys are located in the posterior part of the abdomen, on both sides of the vertebral column. An easier way to say that would be right below the ribs towards the middle of your back. The right kidney is usually lower in location than the left kidney because of where the liver is. Each kidney is about 11cm long, 6cm wide, and 2.5 cm thick. The kidneys remove urea from the blood through a blood filtering unit called a nephron. There are more than 2 million nephrons in each kidney. The nephron is part of the homeostatic mechanism of your body. That mechanism maintains your water-salt balance, and it also regulates the amount of urea in...