Chapter 15: Respiratory System

Question 1

What is the function of the alveoli?

Answer 1

To distribute air close enough to blood for a gas exchange to take place between air and blood.

Question 2

By what passive transport process does the exchange of gases take place in the respiratory system?

Answer 2

By Diffusion (page. 46 in the book)

Question 3

What is Respiratory Mucosa?

Answer 3

The membrane that lines most of the air distribution tubes in the system.

Question 4

How is air purified in the respiratory system before reaching the lungs?

Answer 4

Air is purified when contaminants such as dust, pollen, and smoke particles stick to the layer of protective mucus called a mucus blanket and become trapped.

Question 5

Define ciliary escalator.

Answer 5

These motile cilia have a continual, rhythmic beating motion which pushes secretions from the peripheral to the central airways via the trachea to the throat where they are swallowed or expectorated

Question 6

What is the function of the Conchae (aka Turbinates)?

Answer 6

Nasal conchae, also called Turbinate, or Turbinal, any of several thin, scroll-shaped bony elements forming the upper chambers of the nasal cavities. They increase the surface area of these cavities, thus providing for rapid warming and humidification of air as it passes to the lungs.

Question 7

What are the two kinds of tonsils located in the oropharynx?

Answer 7

Lingual and Palatine Tonsils

Question 8

What kind of tonsils are located in the nasopharynx?

Answer 8

The Pharyngeal Tonsils

Question 9

What is the function of the epiglottis?

Answer 9

The epiglottis acts like a trapdoor, closing off the larynx during swallowing and preventing food and liquids from entering the trachea.

Question 10

What keeps the trachea from collapsing?

Answer 10

Its framework is made of an almost noncollapsible material—15 or 20 C-​shaped rings of cartilage placed one above the other with only a little soft tissue between them.

Question 11

What are secondary bronchi?

Answer 11

The primary bronchi branch off into secondary bronchi in each lung. The bronchi in turn branch off into the bronchioles.

Question 12

What is the Respiratory Membrane?

Answer 12

The membrane separating air within the alveoli from the blood within pulmonary capillaries. It consists of the alveolar wall, the capillary wall, and their basement membranes. The respiratory membrane is very thin (less than 0.5 mm).

Question 13

What is the function of surfactant?

Answer 13

Resting on the surface of the respiratory membrane, surfactant helps reduce surface tension of the watery mucus lining the alveoli—​​keeping the alveoli from collapsing as air moves in and out during respiration.

Question 14

How many lobes are in the right lung vs. the left lung?

Answer 14

The right lung has three lobes and the left lung has two.

Question 15

Where is the apex of the lung located?

Answer 15

The apex is the narrow, superior portion of each lung, up under the collarbone.

Question 16

Where is the base of the lung?

Answer 16

The base is the broad, inferior portion resting on the diaphragm.

Question 17

What is the parietal pleura?

Answer 17

It adheres to the wall of the thoracic cavity surrounding each lung.

Question 18

What is the visceral pleura?

Answer 18

It adheres directly to each lung, and the interpleural space lies between the two pleural membranes.

Question 19

Define pneumothorax?

Answer 19

It’s the presence of air in the intrapleural space on one side of the chest. The additional air increases the pressure on the lung on that side and causes it to collapse.

Question 20

What is the technical definition of respiration?

Answer 20

Respiration means exchange of gases (oxygen and carbon dioxide) between a living organism and its environment.

Question 21

Define External Respiration.

Answer 21

Breathing, or pulmonary ventilation, is the process that moves air into and out of the lungs. It makes possible the exchange of gases between air in the lungs and in the blood.

Question 22

Define Internal Respiration.

Answer 22

It’s the exchange of gases that occurs between the blood and the cells of the systemic tissues of the body.

Question 23

What is the function of the phrenic nerve?

Answer 23

It stimulates the diaphragm to contract allowing us to breathe.

Question 24

What are the Inspiratory Muscles?

Answer 24

The Diaphragm and the external intercostal muscles

Question 25

What are the Expiratory Muscles?

Answer 25

The internal intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles

Question 26

A device that measures the amount of air exchanged in breathing.

Answer 26

Spirometer

Question 27

The largest amount of air that we can breathe out in one expiration—​​by inhaling as deeply as possible, then exhaling fully—​​is known as the ____ ____.

Answer 27

vital capacity (VC)

Question 28

___ ___ ____ is the amount of air that can be forcibly exhaled after expiring the tidal volume.

Answer 28

Expiratory reserve volume (ERV)

Question 29

___ ___ ___ is the amount of air that can be forcibly inspired over and above a normal inspiration.

Answer 29

Inspiratory reserve volume (IRV)

Question 30

___ ___ is simply the air that remains in the lungs after the most forceful expiration.

Answer 30

Residual volume (RV)

Question 31

What are the respiratory control centers?

Answer 31

They’re in the brainstem - the medulla and the pons - and control the basic rate and depth of breathing.

Question 32

____ located in the carotid and aortic bodies are specialized sensory receptors that are sensitive to increases in blood carbon dioxide level and decreases in blood oxygen level.

Answer 32

Chemoreceptors

Question 33

The exchange of gases that occurs between blood in systemic capillaries and the body cells is called ____ ____

Answer 33

internal respiration

Question 34

What is heme?

Answer 34

An iron-containing compound which forms the non-protein part of hemoglobin and some other biological molecules. Each Heme molecule is capable of combining with an oxygen molecule.

Question 35

Define carbaminohemoglobin?

Answer 35

This is formed by the union of carbon dioxide and hemoglobin.