Ruby's Bloody Adventure Trivia Quiz

Answer: In bone marrow

It took about seven days for Ruby to grow and mature in bone marrow, and then she was sent off into the bloodstream. A hormone called erythropoietin controls how many red blood cells are produced. The cells are disc-shaped, but they can change shape easily to fit through different blood vessels.

Answer: Plasma

Blood is a tissue made of plasma. Platelets, white blood cells, and red blood cells float around in it and are carried around the body. Plasma is mostly made of water with proteins, nutrients, and a few other things suspended in it.

Cytoplasm is the fluid inside cells and iron oxide is another name for rust.

Answer: 20 - 30 trillion

On average, men have more red blood cells than women. Human bodies also produce more red blood cells at higher altitudes where the air is thinner. It was thought that the body compensated for the lack of oxygen by creating more red blood cells to transport the little oxygen that was available around the body.

It takes about a week for a red blood cell to be created, but a study published in 2016 (called AltitudeOmics) found that the body responds to the change in altitude overnight. The change remains for as long as the red blood cells live.

Answer: The heart

When a red blood cell like Ruby is created, it is deoxygenated - there is no oxygen in it. It heads to the heart, where it enters the right atrium, and then the right ventricle. From there, it is pushed into the pulmonary artery.

Answer: The lungs

When a red blood cell is created, it doesn't contain oxygen. It needs to head to the lungs to gather oxygen before being pumped around the rest of the body. The heart pumps blood through the pulmonary artery and into the lungs. Ruby, like all red blood cells, is full of haemoglobin. When the cell reaches the lungs, oxygen binds to the haemoglobin ready for transportation.

Answer: Aorta

The aorta begins at the left ventricle and ends in the abdomen where it splits into two different arteries. Arteries are blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart. Most arteries carry oxygenated red blood cells that have already passed through the lungs. The pulmonary artery, however, takes deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs.

Answer: 160,000 km

In an adult, there can be up to around 160,000 km of blood vessels, which is equivalent to approximately 100,000 miles. There are three kinds of blood vessels. The two largest types of blood vessel are arteries and veins. Arteries carry blood away from the heart, while veins carry blood towards the heart.

Answer: Capillaries

Capillaries have very thin walls that are only one cell thick. They allow diffusion to happen. Food and oxygen pass through the capillary wall and into other cells. Waste, like carbon dioxide, is diffused out of cells and into the blood.

An iris is part of the eye, and cartilage is a type of tissue found in joints and other places in the body. The glabella is part of the forehead around the eyebrows.

Answer: They make sure the blood travels in the right direction

Veins have valves to prevent the deoxygenated blood from travelling in the wrong direction. Valves also help blood to flow upwards from the lower body to the heart (the blood in veins often has to travel against gravity). Arteries don't have valves because the pressure from the heart is strong enough to ensure the blood only goes one way.

Answer: 100 - 120 days

On average, red blood cells last around 100 - 120 days. It will take approximately a minute for Ruby the red blood cell to do a complete circuit from the heart, round the body, and back to the heart. The exact amount of time it takes depends on a person's heart rate. A faster heart rate means the blood takes less time to travel around the body.