Mass Transport in Animals Exam Questions for Revision

Q1.
A scientist investigated the affinity for oxygen of horse haemoglobin and mouse
haemoglobin.

Some of their results are shown in the table.

Animal Partial pressure Partial pressure Body mass of

of oxygen when of oxygen when one animal / g
haemoglobin is haemoglobin is
50% saturated / 25% saturated /
kPa kPa

Horse 3.2 1.9 550 000

Mouse 6.5 3.3 23

(a) Plot the haemoglobin saturation data from the graph and use these points to sketch
the full oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curves for a horse and a mouse.

(3)

(b) The following equation can be used to estimate the metabolic rate of an animal.

Metabolic rate = 63 × BM−0.27

BM = body mass in grams

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 Use this equation to calculate how many times faster the metabolic rate of a mouse
is than the metabolic rate of a horse.

Answer = ________________________ times faster

(2)

(c) The data in the table above show differences between the oxyhaemoglobin
dissociation curve for a mouse and the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve for a
horse.

Suggest how these differences allow the mouse to have a higher metabolic rate
than the horse.

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(2)

(d) Mammals such as a mouse and a horse are able to maintain a constant body
temperature.

Use your knowledge of surface area to volume ratio to explain the higher metabolic
rate of a mouse compared to a horse.

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(3)
(Total 10 marks)

Q2.
(a) Explain how an arteriole can reduce the blood flow into capillaries.

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(2)

The image below shows heart valves during one stage of a cardiac cycle.

Ventricles are visible through the open valves.

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(b) What can you conclude from the appearance of valves in the image above about
heart muscle activity and blood movement between:

1. ventricles and arteries?

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(2)

2. atria and ventricles?

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(2)

(c) Tick (✓) one box next to the blood vessel carrying blood at the lowest blood
pressure.

Capillary

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 Pulmonary vein

Renal vein

Vena cava

(1)

(d) A scientist measured the heart rate and the volume of blood pumped in a single
heart beat (stroke volume) of an athlete before exercise and calculated the cardiac
output.

Cardiac output is calculated using this equation.

cardiac output = heart rate × stroke volume

Her results are shown in the table below.

Heart rate / beats Cardiac output / cm3

Stroke volume / cm3
minute−1 minute−1

62 80 4960

After exercise, the athlete’s stroke volume increased by 30% and the cardiac output
was 13 832 cm3 minute –1
Calculate the athlete’s heart rate after exercise.

Give the answer to 2 significant figures. Show your working.

Heart rate _______________ beats minute –1

(2)
(Total 9 marks)

Q3.
The diagram below shows pressure and blood flow during the cardiac cycle in a dog.

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(a) At P on the diagram above, the pressure in the left ventricle is increasing. At this
time, the rate of blood flow has not yet started to increase in the aorta.

Use evidence from diagram above to explain why.

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(2)

(b) At Q on the diagram above there is a small increase in pressure and in rate of blood
flow in the aorta.

Explain how this happens and its importance.

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(2)

(c) A student correctly plotted the right ventricle pressure on the same grid as the left
ventricle pressure in diagram above.

Describe one way in which the student’s curve would be similar to and one way it
would be different from the curve shown in the diagram above.

Similarity ___________________________________________________________

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Difference __________________________________________________________

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(2)

(d) Use information from the diagram above to calculate the heart rate of this dog.

Heart rate _______________ beats minute-1

(1)
(Total 7 marks)

Q4.
The table below shows information about two types of medicine.

Maximum dose of
Name of Mass of medicine in Mass of sodium in
medicine an adult is
medicine one tablet / mg one tablet / g
allowed

Aspirin 300 0.6 g every 4 hours 0.15

Paracetamol 500 1.0 g every 6 hours 0.43

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(a) A journalist studied the data in the above table. She made the following suggestion.

‘If an adult takes the maximum number of tablets allowed for either of the
medicines, then the person would have more than the RDA of sodium.’

The RDA (recommended daily allowance) of sodium for an adult human is 2.4 g per
day.

Is the journalist’s statement true for both of the medicines in the above table?

Use suitable calculations to support your answer.

Show your working.

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(2)

Doctors investigated the link between high sodium concentrations in medicines and
hypertension (high blood pressure).

They analysed medical records of patients. 1 292 337 of these patients had taken
medicines containing high sodium concentrations. Each of these patients was paired with
a patient from a control group.

(b) Give two factors that should have been the same for each pair of patients and one
factor that should have been different.

Same factor 1 _____________________________________________________

Same factor 2 _____________________________________________________

Different factor _____________________________________________________

(2)

(c) Doctors found:

• 4.73% of the patients who had taken medicines containing high sodium

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 concentrations suffered from hypertension
• there were 7.18 times fewer control patients with hypertension.

Calculate how many of the control patients had hypertension.

Show your working.

Answer _______________ patients

(2)

(d) A high concentration of sodium in the blood can affect blood volume and cause
hypertension.

Use your knowledge of water potential to suggest how high sodium concentrations
in the medicines taken could affect blood volume.

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(3)
(Total 9 marks)

Q5.
(a) Describe and explain the effect of increasing carbon dioxide concentration on the
dissociation of oxyhaemoglobin.

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(2)

Seals are diving mammals. They fill their lungs with air before they dive and hold their
breath during the dive.

The graph shows the dissociation curves for seal oxyhaemoglobin and seal myoglobin.
Myoglobin is an oxygen-carrying protein found in muscles.

(b) Use information in the graph to explain how the seal’s myoglobin dissociation curve
shows the seal is adapted for diving.

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 (2)

(c) Scientists measured the oxygen carrying capacity of seal blood.

They found the haemoglobin in a 190 kg seal contained 1.07 × 104 cm3 oxygen.
When the seal dived, it used 5.2 cm3 oxygen per minute per kg of body mass.

Use this information to calculate the maximum number of minutes the seal can
remain under water. Assume that all of the oxygen attached to the haemoglobin is
released during the dive.

Answer = __________________________ minutes

(2)
(Total 6 mark

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