Kidney Function: Blood Flow and Filtration

The blood vessel bringing blood into the glomerulus; larger than the efferent arteriole.

The blood vessel carrying blood away from the glomerulus; smaller than the afferent arteriole.

The rate at which fluid is filtered by both kidneys; approximately 180 liters per day.

Blood cells are too large to pass through the glomerular pores, so they are not filtered.

The cup shaped structure that receives the filtered fluid from the glomerulus.

Nephrons are the kidney's filtering units, responsible for blood filtration, water reabsorption, and waste removal.

The process where water and small solutes are filtered from blood into Bowman's capsule, the first step in urine formation.

Renal tubules are responsible for selectively reabsorbing essential substances and water back into the bloodstream and secreting additional wastes

Tiny blood vessels surrounding the renal tubules; responsible for reabsorbing water and solutes from the filtrate.

Renal artery delivers blood to the kidneys, branches into smaller arteries, then smaller veins to exit the kidneys via the renal vein.