Which term describes the maintenance of a stable internal environment such as temperature or pH?

Which term describes the maintenance of a stable internal environment such as temperature or pH?

• A. Homeostasis
• B. Dynamic Equilibrium
• C. Endocrine Balance
• D. Feedback Regulation

Answer: (A)

Maintaining a stable internal environment is what homeostasis is about. It describes how the body keeps variables like temperature and pH within narrow limits through sensors, a control system, and effectors that respond to deviations. For example, when body temperature rises, mechanisms such as sweating and vasodilation help cool the body; when it drops, shivering and vasoconstriction help raise it. Blood pH is kept stable by buffers and by adjusting respiration and kidney function to remove or retain acids and bases. Dynamic equilibrium refers more generally to a balance of opposing forces and doesn’t inherently include the regulatory processes of a living system, while feedback regulation is the mechanism that achieves homeostasis but is not the overall process itself.

Maintaining a stable internal environment is what homeostasis is about. It describes how the body keeps variables like temperature and pH within narrow limits through sensors, a control system, and effectors that respond to deviations. For example, when body temperature rises, mechanisms such as sweating and vasodilation help cool the body; when it drops, shivering and vasoconstriction help raise it. Blood pH is kept stable by buffers and by adjusting respiration and kidney function to remove or retain acids and bases. Dynamic equilibrium refers more generally to a balance of opposing forces and doesn’t inherently include the regulatory processes of a living system, while feedback regulation is the mechanism that achieves homeostasis but is not the overall process itself.