Introduction to Anatomy & Physiology: Levels of Organization, Life Functions, and Basic Chemistry

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Anatomy: The study of the structure of body parts and their relationships to one another.
Physiology: The study of the function of the body, focusing on how body parts work and carry out life-sustaining activities.

Chemical Level: Atoms, molecules, and organelles form the chemical basis of life.
Cellular Level: The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of life. Examples: Sperm and white blood cells.
Tissue Level: Groups of similar cells working together to perform a specific function. Examples: Blood, muscle, nervous tissue.
Organ Level: Contains two or more types of tissues working together. Examples: Heart, liver.
Organ System Level: Organs that work closely together. Examples: Digestive system, respiratory system.
Organismal Level: All organ systems combined to make the whole organism.

Maintaining Boundaries: Separation between internal and external environments (e.g., skin, plasma membranes).
Movement: Muscular system allows movement; substances are propelled through internal organs.
Responsiveness: Ability to sense and respond to stimuli (e.g., withdrawal reflex, control of breathing rate).
Digestion: Breakdown of ingested foodstuffs into absorbable units.
Metabolism: All chemical reactions in the body, including catabolism (breakdown) and anabolism (synthesis).
Excretion: Removal of wastes from metabolism and digestion (e.g., urea, carbon dioxide, feces).
Reproduction: Cellular division for growth or repair; production of offspring.
Growth: Increase in size of a body part or organism.

Humans are multicellular organisms. There are 11 organ systems that work together to maintain life:

Integumentary System: Forms the external body covering, protects deeper tissues, synthesizes vitamin D, and houses cutaneous receptors and sweat/oil glands. Examples: Skin, hair, nails.
Skeletal System: Protects and supports body organs, provides a framework for muscles, forms blood cells, stores minerals.
Muscular System: Allows movement, maintains posture, produces heat.
Nervous System: Fast-acting control system, responds to internal and external changes by activating muscles and glands.
Endocrine System: Glands secrete hormones that regulate processes such as growth, reproduction, and metabolism.
Cardiovascular System: Blood vessels transport blood, which carries oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients, and wastes; the heart pumps blood.
Lymphatic System/Immunity: Picks up fluid leaked from blood vessels, disposes of debris, houses white blood cells, mounts immune response.
Respiratory System: Keeps blood supplied with oxygen, removes carbon dioxide.
Digestive System: Breaks down food, absorbs nutrients, eliminates indigestible foodstuffs.
Urinary System: Eliminates nitrogenous wastes, regulates water, electrolyte, and acid-base balance.
Reproductive System: Produces offspring; male and female structures produce sex cells and hormones.

Homeostasis: The condition of maintaining the body's internal environment in a relatively constant state (e.g., body temperature, blood pressure, glucose levels).
Homeostatic Imbalance: Anything that disturbs or alters the homeostatic state.
Homeostatic Control Mechanisms: Self-regulating mechanisms that maintain homeostasis, involving a receptor, control center, and effector.
Negative Feedback: Output shuts off the original effect of the stimulus or reduces its intensity (e.g., body temperature regulation).
Positive Feedback: Output enhances the original stimulus (e.g., blood clotting, labor contractions).

Matter: Anything that has mass and occupies space.
States of Matter:
- Solid: Definite shape and volume.
- Liquid: Changeable shape, definite volume.
- Gas: Changeable shape and volume.

Kinetic Energy: Energy in action.
Potential Energy: Stored (inactive) energy.
Forms of Energy:
- Chemical: Stored in bonds of chemical substances.
- Electrical: Results from movement of charged particles.
- Mechanical: Directly involved in moving matter.
- Radiant/Electromagnetic: Travels in waves (e.g., heat, visible light, ultraviolet light, X-rays).
Energy Conversion: Energy may be converted from one form to another, but some energy is "lost" as heat.

Element: A substance that cannot be broken down into simpler substances by ordinary chemical means.
Major elements in the human body: Carbon (C), Hydrogen (H), Oxygen (O), Nitrogen (N).
Atoms: Unique building blocks for each element, composed of subatomic particles:
- Protons: Positive charge, 1 atomic mass unit (AMU).
- Neutrons: No charge, 1 AMU.
- Electrons: Negative charge, negligible mass (0 AMU).
Atomic Number: Number of protons in the nucleus.
Mass Number: Total number of protons and neutrons.
Isotopes: Structural variations of the same element with different numbers of neutrons.

Molecule: Two or more atoms bonded together (e.g., O2).
Compound: Specific molecule that has two or more different kinds of atoms bonded together (e.g., C6H12O6 for glucose).
Mixtures: Two or more components physically intermixed.
- Solutions: Homogeneous mixtures (e.g., salt and water).
- Colloids: Heterogeneous mixtures with particles that do not settle out (e.g., Jell-O, blood plasma).
- Suspensions: Heterogeneous mixtures with large, visible solutes that settle out (e.g., sand in water, blood cells in plasma).

Chemical bonds: Energy relationships between electrons of reacting atoms.
Electrons occupy regions of space called electron shells or energy levels around the nucleus.
Each shell has a maximum number of electrons:
- First shell: 2 electrons
- Second shell: 8 electrons
- Third shell: 18 electrons

Atomic Number:
Mass Number:
Example: Lithium (Li) has 3 protons, 4 neutrons, and 3 electrons. Atomic number = 3, mass number = 7.

Type	Description	Example
Solution	Homogeneous mixture; particles evenly distributed	Salt water
Colloid	Heterogeneous mixture; particles do not settle out	Jell-O, blood plasma
Suspension	Heterogeneous mixture; large particles settle out	Sand in water, blood cells in plasma

Some content was inferred and expanded for clarity and completeness, such as the functions of organ systems and the definitions of mixture types.