Question

Compare the functioning of alveoli in the lungs and nephrons in the kidneys with respect to their structure and functioning.

Answer 1

Hint: Lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system that are present in humans and other animals including most tetrapods, a few fish, and some snails. The right lung is bigger than the left lung because it shares space in the chest with the heart. Kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs that are found in vertebrates which helps in controlling the volume of various body fluids.

Complete answer:
The lungs which are part of the lower respiratory tract begins at the trachea and branch into the bronchi and bronchioles and receives air breathed in through the conducting zone. The conducting zone ends at the terminal bronchioles which then divide into the respiratory bronchioles of the respiratory zone which further divide into alveolar ducts that give rise to the alveolar sacs that contain the alveoli, where the process of gas exchange occurs. Alveoli are also sparsely present on the walls of the respiratory bronchioles and also the alveolar ducts.

Each adult human kidney contains about one million nephrons. Nephrons are the urine-producing functional structures of the kidney, which span the cortex and medulla. The initial filtering portion of a nephron is the renal corpuscle, which is situated in the cortex, this is followed by a renal tubule that passes from the cortex deep into the medullary pyramids. Part of the renal cortex, a medullary ray is a collection of renal tubules that drain into a single collecting duct.

The comparison of Alveoli in the lungs and Nephrons in the kidneys are as follows.

Alveoli in the lungs	Nephrons in the kidney
Alveoli in the lungs are the tiny air sacs that are located in the lungs that help in the rapid exchange of gases.	Nephrons in the kidneys consist of glomerulus and tubules through which glomerular filtrate passes.
Situated in the respiratory system	Belongs to the excretory system
Around four eighty million alveoli found in each lung	One million nephrons found in kidneys
Sac-like structures	Tubular structures
Facilitates gaseous exchange in lungs	Facilitates blood filtration in order to produce urine
Made up of simple squamous epithelium	Made up of simple cuboidal epithelium with microvilli
Pulmonary arterioles supply blood to the alveoli	Afferent arterioles supply blood to the nephrons
Blood is supplied to pulmonary veins by the alveoli	Nephrons supply blood to renal veins

Note: We must note that alveoli are tiny air sacs that are present in the lungs with the appearance of a bunch of grapes which are also called pulmonary alveoli. They mainly facilitate the exchange of gases. While nephrons are divided into renal corpuscles and renal tubules, they are mainly concerned with blood filtration.