Explain why hormonal coordination is described as slower but longer-lasting compared to nervous coordination.

Hormones are released into the bloodstream, so they must travel through the blood to reach target cells. Blood flow is much slower than the rapid electrical impulses that travel along nerves, making hormonal signals slower to arrive.

Once in the blood, hormones can circulate for a long time before being metabolised or excreted. This means the effect of a hormone can last for minutes, hours or even days.

In contrast, a nerve impulse is a brief electrical signal that stops as soon as the stimulus ends. The response of a target cell is therefore short‑lived, lasting only until the impulse ceases.