1.13 Blood Vessels Flashcards
Name the 3 blood vessels
Arteries - take blood away from heart
Veins - return blood to the heart
Capillaries - distribute blood within the organs
What is the structure of an artery?
Arteries have thicker walls, they are more elastic and carry blood at higher pressure than veins. They pulsate at heart beats.
What is the lumen?
The channel the blood flows through, it can widen to allow more blood through arteries.
What is the structure of veins?
They have much thinner walls, are less elastic and carry blood at lower pressures than arteries. Veins rarely pulsate.
Veins contain many valves, which keep venous blood flowing to the heart
What is the structure of Capillaries?
Capillaries are microscopic vessels - just one cell thick - that link arteries with veins. The blood pressure in capillaries is very low
At one end, they carry arterial blood, transferring oxygen and nutrients to muscles.
At the other end, they carry venous blood into veins, picking up waste products and taking them round the body to be disposed of.
