La Química En El Cuerpo Humano

Chemistry in the Body: The Human
Operating System
Usually, when we hear the word “chemistry” things like atoms, complex molecules, and reactions come to mind, we thing that chemistry is apart from us. But actually chemistry is everywhere, in every single thing we see, in the food, in water, in the clothes, completely in everything. Chemistry is also in our body, several molecules form thedifferent systems, a lot of chemical reactions are occurring inside us right now. In this research I will relate chemistry with the human body; I will explain some important chemical characteristics of our body, the type of molecules and substances that take place in the body. And I am going to explain it in such a way you go through the body systems, from the beginning to the end, because humanbody is like a long complex chain, where one thing leads to another, one thing affects another, and so on. As we will see, chemistry plays an important role in human body, such as in respiratory, digestive and reproductive processes.
The Respiratory Process
The respiratory system works along with the circulatory system to carry out the respiratory process, and in both chemistry is present. Thefirst one is composed by the trachea, the bronchi, the diaphragm and the lungs which are the main organs of this system. The second system consists of veins, arteries, blood, and the most important organ, the heart.
The lungs are the organs in charge of breathe the air of the environment which composition is 78% of nitrogen (N2), 21% of oxygen (O2), 0.93% of argon (Ar), and others. From thismixture of gases, lungs only take the oxygen which is necessary for the functions of every cell. Basically, the main function of the lungs is “to bring about the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the blood, the air and the tissues” (Miller, 956).
Once the air is taken, it is conducted through the bronchi, which are two large tubes, and then they divide into bronchioles that finallysubdivide into alveoli which are tiny air sacs; here is where the gas exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide takes place. “There are about 150 million alveoli in each healthy lung, providing an enormous surface area of gas exchange” (Miller, 958)
Oxygen (O2) is a diatomic (two atoms) substance which is found naturally in gaseous state. On the periodic table it is found in the chalcogen group, ithas six electrons in its valence shell, and that allows the combination of this element with many of the other elements.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a gas composed by one atom of carbon and two of oxygen joined by two covalent bonds. Gas is the only state we can find carbon dioxide at atmosphere temperature and pressure, and it has no color. It is released to the environment in two main ways; thefirst one is the natural: when the exchange in the alveoli takes place, carbon dioxide is released. And the second way is by combustion.
Oxygen is used for the cells in order to produce energy needed by the body, if we do not breathe and take oxygen the body will not work, oxygen is essential. Carbon dioxide is a waste for the process of cellular respiration, which we will see later.
Once theair enters into the bloodstream and the carbon dioxide goes out, oxygen is transported by the blood. Now, oxygen is in our blood, we need it to be taken to every single cell of our body; heart is the organ in charge of this work. “In the walls of the heart, there are two thin layers of epithelial and connective tissue that form a sandwich around a thick layer of muscle called the myocardium”(Miller, 944), this muscle contracts and allows the pumping of the blood. The basic function of the heart is to control and coordinate the pumping of blood.
Blood is a fluid that moves along the veins and arteries and takes the oxygen from the environment to the cells, and takes the carbon dioxide from the cells to the outside. Blood is a mixture of plasma, platelets, white blood cells, and red...