Fluid compartmentsThe human body and even its individual body fluids may be conceptually divided into various fluid compartments, which, although not literally anatomic compartments, do represent a real division in terms of how portions of the body's water, solutes, and suspended elements are segregated. The two main fluid compartments are the intracellular and extracellular compartments.
Extracellular fluidIn cell biology, extracellular fluid (ECF) denotes all body fluid outside the cells of any multicellular organism. Total body water in healthy adults is about 50–60% (range 45 to 75%) of total body weight; women and the obese typically have a lower percentage than lean men. Extracellular fluid makes up about one-third of body fluid, the remaining two-thirds is intracellular fluid within cells.
Body waterIn physiology, body water is the water content of an animal body that is contained in the tissues, the blood, the bones and elsewhere. The percentages of body water contained in various fluid compartments add up to total body water (TBW). This water makes up a significant fraction of the human body, both by weight and by volume. Ensuring the right amount of body water is part of fluid balance, an aspect of homeostasis.
Blood plasmaBlood plasma is a light amber-colored liquid component of blood in which blood cells are absent, but which contains proteins and other constituents of whole blood in suspension. It makes up about 55% of the body's total blood volume. It is the intravascular part of extracellular fluid (all body fluid outside cells).
LymphLymph (from Latin'water') is the fluid that flows through the lymphatic system, a system composed of lymph vessels (channels) and intervening lymph nodes whose function, like the venous system, is to return fluid from the tissues to be recirculated. At the origin of the fluid-return process, interstitial fluid—the fluid between the cells in all body tissues—enters the lymph capillaries.
LiquidState of matter The formation of a spherical droplet of liquid water minimizes the surface area, which is the natural result of surface tension in liquids.
Blood vesselBlood vessels are the tubular structures of a circulatory system transporting blood in animal bodies. Blood vessels transport blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen to most of the tissues of a body, and also transport waste products and carbon dioxide away from the tissues. Some tissues – such as cartilage, epithelium, and the lens and cornea of the eye – are not supplied with blood vessels, so are termed avascular.
Human body weightHuman body weight is a person's mass or weight. Strictly speaking, body weight is the measurement of mass without items located on the person. Practically though, body weight may be measured with clothes on, but without shoes or heavy accessories such as mobile phones and wallets, and using manual or digital weighing scales.Body (biology)A body (Latin: corpus) is the physical material of an organism. It is only used for organisms which are in one part or whole. There are organisms which change from single cells to whole organisms: for example, slime molds. For them the term 'body' would mean the multicellular stage.
VeinA vein () is a blood vessel in the circulatory system of humans and most other animals that carries blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are those of the pulmonary and fetal circulations which carry oxygenated blood to the heart. In the systemic circulation, arteries carry oxygenated blood away from the heart, and veins return deoxygenated blood to the heart, in the deep veins.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.