Question

Make a diagram of the human nerve cell. Justify its shape with regards to its function.

Answer 1

Hint: These cells are found in the nervous system and their main function is to receive and transmit the information which allows the organisms to respond accordingly.

Complete answer:
Nerve cells are also known as Neurons. These are the components of the nervous system. Neurons communicate with each other and also with the other cells through the electric signals or the nerve impulse and this then allows the effector neurons to respond to the stimuli. Neurons are simply the receivers and transmitters.
These consist of Cell body, Dendrites, Axon, Myelin sheath cells, Node of ranvier and Axon terminal bundle.

As mentioned in the diagram, the cell body contains the nucleus, as compared to other cells the cell body of the neuron is large. It has a series of branch-like structures which are known as dendrites arising from the cell body and these are branched shaped which allows the nerve impulse to get transmitted from one cell to the other as these receive impulse from the axon of the other cells. This cell body is the site of protein synthesis.
Axon is straight in appearance and it extends and branches at its end. It contains microtubules and it has myelin sheath on the surface of it and because of its shape it boosts the transmission of nerve impulse. Myelin sheath is made up of Schwann cells. Also, the spaces between the myelin sheath are known as nodes of Ranvier which are there to propagate electrical signals along the axon.
Axon terminal is also known as Nerve ending and it is the part that comes in contact with the dendrites of the other neuron cell. The impulse is transmitted to the other neuron cell via the synaptic knob. Due to the axon terminal, the axon releases a neurotransmitter which has mitochondria and that are required to produce the energy required for the whole process.

Note: Every part in the neuron plays an important role and their shape is in such a way to support the process. Neurons are long and thin because the electrical signals travel much faster than the chemical signals and these cells are long in order to minimize the number of slower chemical signals.