HUMAN ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY

PART 1 BASIC CHEMUSTRY

DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS : MATTER AND ENERGY

MATTER: is anything that occupies space and has mass. We can consider mass to be the same as weight.

MASS OF AN OBJECT: equivalent of the amount of matter in the object remains constant wherever the
object is. In contrast the weight of and object varies with gravity.

STATES OF MATTER: matter exist in solid, liquid, and gaseous states. Solids, like bones and teeth have a
definite shape and volume. Liquid like blood plasma and interstitial fluid have a definite volume but they conform to the
shape of their container. Gases have neither definite shape nor a definite volume. The air we breathe is a gas.

ENERGY: it has no mass and does not take up space.

• It can be measured only by its effects on matter.
• Is defined as the capacity to do work or to put matter into motion.
• The greater the work done the more energy expended doing it .

KINETS VS. POTENTIAL ENERGY:

KINETIC ENERGY: is energy in action.
POTENTIAL ENERGY: is stored or inactive energy that has the potential or capability to do work but is not presently
doing so.

FORM OF ENERGY:

CHEMICAL ENERGY: is the form stored in the bonds of chemical substances when the bonds arebroken the potential
energy is released for use and becomes kinetic energy.

ELECTRICAL ENERGY: reflects the movement of charged particles. In your body electrical currents are generated as
charged particles called ions move across cell membranes.
The nervous system uses electrical currents, called nerve impulses to transmit messages from one part of the body to
another.

MECHANICAL ENERGY: is energy directly involved in moving matter.

RADIANT ENERGY OR ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY: is energy that travels in waves.

COMPOSITION OF MATTER:
ATOMS AND ELEMENTS:

ELEMENTS: Is the fundamental substances of the matter. It can not be broken down into simpler substances by
ordinary chemical methods.
Carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen is four elements make up about 96% of body weight 20 others are present in the
body in lesser or trace amounts.
 Atomic Approx
Element symbol % body mass Functions

Major ( 96.2 %)

Oxygen O 65.0 A major component of both organic (carbon-containing)

And inorganic molecules as a gas it is necessary for the
Production of cellular energy (ATP).

Carbon C 18.5 A primary component of all organic molecules, which

Include carbohydrates, lipids (fats) proteins, and nucleic acids.

Hydrogen H 9.5 A component of all organic molecules as an ion (proton) it

Influences the PH of body fluids.

Nitrogen N 3.2 A component of proteins and nucleic acids (genetic material)

Lesser (3.9%)

Calcium Ca 1.5 Found as a salt in bones and teeth: its ionic from is required
For muscle contraction. Conduction of nerve impulses, and
Blood clotting.

Phosphorus P 1.0 part of calcium phosphate salts in bones and teeth also
Present in nucleic acids: part of ATP.

Potassium K 0.4 its ion is the major positive ion in cells; necessary for
Conduction of nerve impulses and muscle contraction.

Sulfur S 0.3 component of proteins, particularly muscle proteins.

Chlorine CI 0.2 Ionic chlorine is the most abundant negative ion in

Extracellular fluids.

Magnesium Mg 0.1 present in bone also an important cofactor in a number of

Metabolic reactions.

Iodine I 0.1 needed to make functional thyroid hormones.

Iron Fe 0.1 Component of hemoglobin (which transports oxygen within

Red blood cells) and some enzymes.

Atoms: is the building blocks of the element. Each element’s atoms differ from those of all other elements and give the
element its unique physical and chemical properties.

ATOMIC STRUCTURE:
We know that atoms are clusters of even smaller particles called protons, neutrons, and electrons.
An atom has a central nucleus containing protons and neutrons tightly bound together.
Protons bear a positive electrical charge.
Neutrons are neutral. Thus the nucleus is positively charged overall.
For any atom the number of protons and electrons is always equal.
IDENTIIFYING ELEMENTS:

All protons are alike, regardless of the atom being considered. The same is true of all neutrons and all electrons. So what
determines the unique properties of each element? The answer is that atoms of different elements are composed of
different numbers of protons, neutrons, and electrons.

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Catalysts are substances that increase the rate of chemical reactions without themselves becoming chemically changed
or part of the product.

Molecules called Enzymes are biological catalysts. The presence of enzymes is the single most important factor
determining the rate of chemical reactions in living systems. Most but not all enzymes are proteins.

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Compound contributing to body structure and function fall into one of two major classes: inorganic and organic
compounds.
Organic compounds contain carbon. All organic compounds are covalently bonded molecules ( such a combination of
two or more atoms held together by chemical bonds), and many are large.
All other chemicals in the body are considered inorganic compounds. These include water, salts, and many acids and
bases. Organic and inorganic compounds are equally essential for life. Trying to decide which is more valuable is like
trying to decide whether the ignition system or the engine is more essential to the operation of a car.

Inorganic compounds:

Water

Water, the most abundant and important inorganic compound in living material, makes up 60% to 80% of the volume of
most living cells. The versatility of this vital fluid is incredible, as reflected in its properties.

1. water redistributes heat among body tissues, ensuring temperature homeostasis.

2. water evaporates from our skin, large amounts of heat are removed from the body and lost to the external
environment, providing and efficient cooling mechanism.
3. water is an unparaleleled solvent and suspension medium for both inorganic and organic molecules.
4. water serves as the body’s major transport medium because it is such an excellent solvent.
5. nutrients, respiratory gases, and metabolic wastes are carried throughout the body dissolved in blood plasma and
many metabolic wastes are excreted from the body in urine another water flouid.

Salts
• the most plentiful salts are the calcium phosphates that contribute to the hardness of bones and teeth.
• Sodium and potassium are essential for nerve impulse transmission the muscle contraction.
• Iron forms part of the hemoglobin molecules that transport oxygen within red blood cells.
• Zinc and copper are important functions of the elements found in body salts.

Acids
• Acids have sour taste, can react with many metals and burn a hole in your rug.
• The most useful definition of and acid for our purposes is that it is a substance that releases hydrogen.

Bases
• Bases have a bitter taste, feel slippery and take up hydrogen.
 • Bases take up hydrogen in detectable amounts.

The relative concentration of hydrogen in various body fluids is measured in concentration units called PH.

Buffers

Living cells are extraordinarily sensitive to even slight changes in the PH of the environment. In high concentrations,
acids and bases are extremely damaging to living tissue. Homeostasis of acid base balance is carefully regulated by the
kidneys and lungs and by chemical systems (proteins and other types of molecules) called buffers. Buffers resist abrupt
and large swings in the PH of body fluids by releasing hydrogen ( acting as acids ) when the PH begins to rise and by
binding hydrogen (acting as bases) when the PH drops. Because blood comes into close contact with nearly every body
cell regulation of its PH is particularly critical. Normally blood PH varies within a very narrow range. If blood Ph varies
from these limits by more than a few tenths of a unit, it may be fatal.

ORGANIC COMPOUNDS:

Molecules unique to living systems Proteins, Carbohydrates, Lipids (fat), and nucleic acids all contain carbon an hence
are organic compounds. Although organic compounds are distinguished by the fact that they contain carbon and
inorganic compounds are defined as compounds that lack carbon, there are a few irrational exceptions to this
generalization that you should be aware of. Carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and carbides, for example, all contain
carbon but are considered inorganic compounds.
What makes carbon so special that living chemistry depends on its presence?
To begin with no other small atom is so precisely elecrtoneutral. The consequence of its elecroneutrality is the carbon
never loses or gains electrons it always shares them. Furthermore, with four valence shell electrons, carbon form four
covalent bonds with other elements, as well as with other carbon atoms. As a result, carbon is found in long chainlike
molecules (common in fats) ring structures ( typical of carbohydrates and steroids) and many other structures that are
uniquely suited for specific roles in the body.

Carbohydrates:

A group of molecules that includes sugars and starches, represent 1% to 2% of cell mass. Carbohydrates contain carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen, and generally the hydrogen and oxygen atoms occur in the same 2:1 ratio as in water. This ratio is
reflected in the word carbohydrate (meaning hydrated carbon).
A carbohydrate can be classified according to size and solubility as a monosaccharide (one sugar) disaccharide (two
sugar ) polysaccharide (many sugars). Monosaccharides are the structural units or building blocks, of the other
carbohydrates. In general the larger the carbohydrate molecule, the less soluble it is in water.

MONOSACCHARIDES

Monosaccharides are named generically according to the number of carbon atoms they contain. Most important in the
body are the pentose (five carbon) and hexose (six carbon) sugars. For example, deoxyribose a pentose is a part of of
DNA, and glucose, a hexose is blood sugar. When ingested in the diet, galactose and fructose are often converted to
glucose for use by the body cells.

DISACCHARIDES

A disaccharide or double sugar, is formed when two monosaccharides are joined together by dehydration synthesis. In
this synthesis reaction , a water molecule is lose as the bond is formed.
Notice that the molecular formula for sucrose contains two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom less than the total
number of hydrogen and oxygen atoms in glucose and fructose, because a water molecule is released during bond
formation.
Important disaccharides in the diet are sucrose (glucose + fructose) which is cane or table sugar lactose (glucose +
galactose) found in milk and maltose (glucose + glucose) also called malt sugar.
Since disaccharides are too large to pass through cell membranes, they must be digested to their simple sugar units to
absorbed from the digestive tract into the blood.
this decomposition process is called hydrolysis and is essentially toe reverse of dehydration synthesis. A water molecule
is added to each bond, breaking the bonds and releasing the simple sugar units.

POLYSACCHARIDES

Polysaccharides are long chains of simple sugars linked together by dehydration synthesis. Such long chainlike
molecules made to many similar units are called polymers. Because polysaccharides are large, fairly insoluble molecules,
they are ideal storage products. Another consequence of their large size is that they lack the sweetness of the simple and
double sugars. Only two polysaccharides are of major importance to the body : starch and glycogen. Both are polymers
of glucose only their degree of branching differs.

Starch is the storage carbohydrate formed by plants. The number of glucose units composing a starch molecule is high
and variable. When we eat starchy foods such as grain products and potatoes, the starch must be digested to its glucose
units to be absorbed. (we are unable to digest CELLULOSE another polysaccharide found in all plant products.
However, it is important in providing the bulk that helps move feces through the colon.)

Glycogen the storage carbohydrate of animal tissues, is stored primarily in skeletal muscle and liver cells. Like starch it
is highly branched and is a very large molecule. When blood sugar levels drop precipitously liver cells break down
glycogen and release its glucose units to the blood. Since there are many branch endings from which glucose can be
released simultaneously, body cells have almost instant access to glucose fuel.

CARBOHYDRATE FUNCTIONS

The major function of carbohydrates in the body is to provide a ready, easily used source of cellular fuel. Most cells can
use only a limited number of simple sugars, and glucose is at the top of the cellular menu and glucose is at the top of the
cellular menu. Glucose is broken down and oxidized within cells, and some of the bond energy released during glucose
breakdown is trapped in the bonds of ATP molecules. When not immediately needed for ATP synthesis, dietary
carbohydrates are converted to glycogen or fat and stored.
Small amounts of carbohydrates are used for structural purposes. For example, some sugars are found in our genes,
others are attached to the external surfaces of cells where they act as road signs to guide cellular interactions when
protein intake is inadequate, some sugars are converted by the liver into building blocks needed to produce proteins.

LIPIDS

Lipids are organic compounds that are insoluble in water but dissolve readily on other lipids and in organic solvents such
as alcohol, chloroform and ether. Like carbohydrates all lipids contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen but proportion od
oxygen in lipids is much lower. In addition, phosphorus is found in some of the more complex lipids. The lipids are a
diverse group that includes neural fats, phospholipids, steroids, and a number of other lipoid substances.

Neutral Fats

The neutral fats are commonly known as fats when solid or oils when liquid. A neutral fat is composed of two types of
building blocks, fatty acids and glycerol. Fatty acids are linear chains of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Glycerol is a
modified simple sugar ( a sugar alcohol). Fat synthesis involves the attachment of three fatty acid chains to a single
glycerol molecule by dehydration synthesis resulting in an E-shaped molecule.
The glycerol backbone is the same in all neutral fats but the fatty acid chains vary. This results in different kinds of
neutral fats. The neutral fats are large molecules, often consisting of hundreds of atoms, and ingested fats and oils must
be broken down to their building blocks before they can be absorbed. Neutral fats are the body’s most concentrated
source of usable energy fuel, and when they are oxidized they yield large amounts of energy.
The hydrocarbon chains make neutral fats nonpolar molecules. Since polar and nonpolar molecules do not interact, oil or
fats and water do not mix. Consequently, neutral fats are well suited for storing energy fuel in the body. Deposits of
neutral fats are found primarily beneath the skin, where they insulate the deeper body tissues from heat loss and protect
them from mechanical trauma. Women are usually better English Channel swimmers than men this is attributed party to
their thicker subcutaneous fatty layer which helps insulate them from the bitterly cold water of the channel.

The length of a neutral fat’s acid chains and their degree of saturation determine how solid a neutral fat is at a given
temperature. Fatty acid chains with only single covalent bonds between carbon atoms are referred to as SATURATED.
Fatty acids that contain one or more double bonds between carbon atoms are side to UNSATURATED,
MONOUNSATURATED AND POLYUNSATURATED respectively. Neutral fats with short fatty acid chains and / or
unsaturated fatty acids are liquid at room temperature and are typical of plant lipids. We are familiar with these
unsaturated fats as oils used for cooking. Olive and peanut oils are rich in monounsaturated fats, corn, soybean, and
safflower oils are examples of oils containing a high percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Longer fatty acid chains
and / or more saturated fatty acids are common in animal fats such as butter fat and the fat of meats, which are solid at
room temperature.

STEROIDS

Steroids are basically flat molecules formed of four interlocking hydrocarbon rings. Like neutral fats, steroids are fat
soluble and contain little oxygen. The single most important steroids is cholesterol. We ingest cholesterol in animal
products such as eggs, meat, and cheese and our lives produces a certain amount.
Cholesterol has earned bad press because of its role in arteriosclerosis, but it is absolutely essential for human life.
Cholesterol is found in cell membranes and is the raw material of vitamin D steroid hormones, and bile salts. Although
steroid hormones are present in the body in only small quantities, they are vital to homeostasis. Without sex hormones,
reproduction would be impossible, and a total lack of the corticosteroids produced by the adrenal gland is fatal.

PROTEINS

Proteins composes 10% to 30% of cell mass and is the basic structural material of the body. However not all proteins are
construction materials; many play vital roles in cell function. Proteins, which include enzymes (biological catalysts)
hemoglobin of the blood and contractile proteins of muscle have the most varied functions of any molecules in the body.
All proteins contain carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen, and many contain sulfur and phosphorus as well.

ENZYMES

Enzymes are proteins that act as biological catalysts. Catalysts are substances that regulate and accelerate the rate of
biochemical reactions but are not used up or changed in those reactions. Enzymes cannot force chemical reactions to
occur between molecules that would not otherwise react; thy can only increase the speed of reaction. We might think of
enzymes as molecular used to fan a sluggish fire into flaming activity, because without enzymes, biochemical reactions
proceed so slowly that for practical purposes they do not occur at all. Enzymes increase reaction rates by a factor of
about 1 million.

ADENOSINE TRIPHOSPHATE (ATP)

Although glucose is the most important cellular fuel none of the chemical energy contained in tits bonds is used directly
to power chemical reactions. As mentioned earlier, the energy released during glucose breakdown is captured and stored
as small packets of energy in the bonds of adenosine triphosphate or ATP. ATP synthesis is an all important cellular
function because it provides a form of chemical energy that usable by all body cells.
As ATP’s bonds are broken by hydrolysis to provide energy for cellular needs, ADP accumulates. Sometimes, the
second high energy phosphate bond is also cleaved, liberating a similar amount of energy and producing adenosine
monophosphate AMP. ATP supplies are replenished as glucose and other fuel released. The same amount of energy that
is liberated when ATP’s terminal phosphates are cleaved off must be captured and used to reverse the reaction to reattach
phosphates and reform the high energy bonds. Without ATP molecules cannot be made or degraded, cells cannot
transport substances across their membranes boundaries muscles cannot shorted to tug on other structures, and life
processes cease.

CELLS THE LIVING UNITS

Cells are the structural units of all living things. The human body has 50 to 60 trillion of these tiny building blocks.
The cell theory:
1. a cell is the basic structural and functional unit of living organisms. So when you define the properties of a cell
you are in fact defining the properties of life.
2. the activity of an organism is dependent on both the individual and collective activities of its cells.
3. according to the principle of complementarity’s. The biochemical activities of cells determined and made
possible by the specific subcellular structures of cells.
4. continuity of life has a cellular basis.

Perhaps the most striking property of a cell is its complex organization. Chemically cells are composed chiefly of carbon,
hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and trace amounts of several other elements. These substances are found in the air around us
and the ground beneath our feet, but within the cell they take on the special characteristics of life.

The trillions of cells in the human body include some 200 different types that are amazingly diverse in shape, size, and
function. The spherical fat cells, disc-shaped red blood cells, branching nerve cells and cubelike cells of kidney tubules
are just a few examples of shapes cells take.

Human cells have three major parts: a nucleus, cytoplasm (with cytoplasmic organelles), and a plasma membrane. The
nucleus which controls cell activities, is usually centrally located. The nucleus is surrounded by cytoplasm which is
packed with arganelles small structures that perform specific functions in the cell. The cytoplasm, is enclosed by the
plasma membrane, which forms the outer cell boundary.