Q 01/05

Which four organs make up the human urinary system?

A) Kidneys, ureters, bladder, urethra

B) Kidneys, liver, bladder, urethra

C) Kidneys, ureters, prostate, colon

D) Adrenals, ureters, bladder, rectum

Answer · why

A) Kidneys, ureters, bladder, urethra

The male and female systems are nearly identical; the main difference is the length of the urethra.

Q 02/05

What is the basic structural and functional unit of the kidney?

A) Alveolus

B) Nephron

C) Neuron

D) Villus

Answer · why

B) Nephron

Each adult kidney contains around a million of them; a mouse kidney gets by with about 12,500.

Q 03/05

Roughly how many nephrons does each adult human kidney contain?

A) About 1,000

B) About 100,000

C) About 1 million

D) About 100 million

Answer · why

C) About 1 million

They do not regenerate, so the number you are born with is the number you have; it declines slowly with age.

Q 04/05

The tuft of filtering capillaries at the start of each kidney filtration unit is called what?

A) Medulla

B) Calyx

C) Papilla

D) Glomerulus

Answer · why

D) Glomerulus

Only about a fifth of the plasma passing through it is filtered; the rest carries on into a narrower efferent arteriole, which is what keeps the press...

Q 05/05

The cup-shaped structure that surrounds the kidney's filtering capillary tuft is named after which anatomist?

A) Bowman

B) Henle

C) Malpighi

D) Bright

Answer · why

A) Bowman

Its inner layer is made of specialised cells called podocytes whose interlocking 'feet' form part of the filtration barrier.