Urinary System

two-bean shaped organs located on each side of the vertebral column on the posterior wall of the abdominal cavity behind the parietal peritoneum. Their function is to remove waste products from the blood and to aid in maintaining water and electrolyte balances

urine-producing microscopic structure- approximately 1 million nephrons are located in each kidney

cluster of capillaries at the entrance of the nephron. The process of filtering the blood, thereby forming urine, begins here

funnel-shaped reservoir that collects the urine and passes it to the ureter

indentation on the medial side of the kidney where the ureter leaves the kidney

two slender tubes, approximately 10-13 inches long, that receive the urine from the kidneys and carry it to the posterior portion of the bladder

muscular, hollow organ that temporarily holds urine. As it fills, the thick, muscular wall becomes thinner and the organ increases in size.

lowest part of the urinary tract, through which the urine passes from the urinary bladder to the outside of the body. The narrow tube varies in length by sex. It is approximately 1.5 inches long in the female and approximately 8 inches in the male, in whom it is also part of the reproductive system. It carries seminal fluid as the time of ejaculation.

opening through which the urine passes to the outside

Bladder, sac

Glomerulus

Meatus (opening)

Kidney

Renal pelvis

Ureter