AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -The glomerulus is a network of blood capillaries enclosed in the Bowman’s capsule of a nephron. The glomerulus and the Bowman’s capsule form the structure of the renal corpuscle where blood filtration occurs.

Detailed explanation-2: -The glomerulus (plural glomeruli) is a network of small blood vessels (capillaries) known as a tuft, located at the beginning of a nephron in the kidney.

Detailed explanation-3: -The hydrostatic pressure in the glomerular capillary is 4-6 times higher than the hydrostatic pressure in the peritubule capillary so that approximately 25% of the plasma is filtered. The bulk of the filtrate is subsequently reabsorbed by the peritubule capillary network.

Detailed explanation-4: -The main reason that the hydrostatic pressure stays high in the glomerular capillaries is that they don’t coalesce into a vein but rather into an arteriole. The efferent arterioles are high-pressure vessels with muscular walls just like the afferent arterioles.

Detailed explanation-5: -The glomerulus, the filtering unit of the kidney, is a specialized bundle of capillaries that are uniquely situated between two resistance vessels (Figure 1). These capillaries are each contained within the Bowman’s capsule and they are the only capillary beds in the body that are not surrounded by interstitial tissue.