Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ventral Cavity
The ventral cavity consists of two compartments, the
thoracic cavity and the abdominal cavity, which are
separated by the diaphragm. The diaphragm is a large,
dome-shaped respiratory muscle. It has openings for
the esophagus and for large blood vessels, but otherwise
is a wall between the thoracic and abdominal cavities.
The pelvic cavity may be considered a
subdivision of the abdominal cavity (there is no wall
between them) or as a separate cavity.
Organization and General Plan of the Body
13
Figure 14. Body parts and areas. The body is shown in anatomic position. (A) Anterior
view. (B) Posterior view. (Compare with Table 12.)
QUESTION: Name a body area that contains a bone with a similar name. Can you name
two more?
ELEMENTS
24
ATOMS
Atoms are the smallest parts of an element that have
the characteristics of that element. An atom consists of
CHEMICAL BONDS
IONIC BONDS
An ionic bond involves the loss of one or more electrons
by one atom and the gain of the electron(s) by
another atom or atoms. Refer to Fig. 22 as you read
the following.
An atom of sodium (Na) has one electron in its outermost
shell, and in order to become stable, it tends to
lose that electron. When it does so, the sodium atom
has one more proton than it has electrons. Therefore,
it now has an electrical charge (or valence) of _1 and
is called a sodium ion (Na_). An atom of chlorine has
seven electrons in its outermost shell, and in order to
become stable tends to gain one electron. When it
does so, the chlorine atom has one more electron than
it has protons, and now has a charge (valence) of _1.
It is called a chloride ion (Cl_).
When an atom of sodium loses an electron to an
atom of chlorine, their ions have unlike charges (positive
and negative) and are thus attracted to one
another. The result is the formation of a molecule of
sodium chloride: NaCl, or common table salt. The
bond that holds these ions together is called an ionic
bond.
Some Basic Chemistry
25