Question

What is the function of pores in the skin?
A) To secrete sweat
B) To produce sweat
C) To produce hairs
D) All the above

Answer 1

Hint: Our whole body is covered by skin. It performs various functions such as protection from pathogens and the external environment, regulation of body temperature, insulation etc. Pores are the small openings on the outer layer of skin. It is present all over the body such as legs, face, hands etc.

Complete answer:
Pores play various important functions in the human body:
- It helps to remove waste materials such as dirt and oil from the body. Thus, keeps our body healthy.
- It also helps to remove excess salts such as sodium chloride from out body through sweating.
- The sweat produced from sebaceous or sweat glands are secreted outside the body through pores present on the skin. Thus, regulates the body temperature by secreting sweat which provides cooling to the body.
- The pores are also involved in the removal of dead skin cells.
- It also provides moisture to the skin.

Hairs are protein filaments that are produced from the epidermal layer of skin. The hairs are anchored into the skin by hair follicles. The base of the hair follicle is called the hair bulb. The hairs help in keeping the body warm. It also protect the body from the harmful UV rays of the sun.

Thus, the answer to the above question is (A) to secrete sweat. This is because, the sweat is produced from sebaceous glands but it is secreted through pores of the skin.

Note: Sweat glands are present deep inside the skin. They are involved in the regulation of temperature. There are two types of sweat glands- apocrine glands and eccrine glands. Most of the sweat is produced by eccrine glands. The apocrine glands are present in the armpits and groin regions. It produces oilier and thicker sweat as compared to eccrine glands. It causes odour.