Chapter 4: Supporting Systems Flashcards
Circulatory System
A closed system circulating blood through the body, consisting of the heart, blood vessels, and blood.
Closed System
A physical system that does not allow for the movement of matter into or out of the system.
Arteries
Blood vessels carrying oxygenated blood away from the heart and to the tissues.
Veins
Blood vessels carrying blood toward the heart to remove waste and pick up more oxygen.
Capillaries
Fine-branching blood vessels forming a network between the arterioles and venules, where transport of nutrients and oxygen or carbon dioxide occurs on a microscopic scale.
Arterioles
The smaller branches of the arteries leading to the capillaries.
Venules
The small branches of the veins gathering blood from the capillaries.
Atrium
One of the two upper cavities of the heart passing blood to the ventricles. The plural is “atria.”
Ventricle
One of the two lower cavities of the heart passing blood to the body or to the lungs.
Pulmonary Arteries
Blood vessels moving blood from the heart to the lungs.
Pulmonary Veins
Blood vessels returning oxygenated blood to the heart from the lungs.
Aorta
The main artery in the body that supplies oxygenated blood to the circulatory system.
Pulmonary Circulation
The blood flow between the heart and the lungs.
Systemic Circulation
The blood flow between the heart and the rest of the body.
Superior Vena Cava
The blood vessel moving blood from the upper body and head to the heart.
Inferior Vena Cava
The blood vessel moving blood from the lower body to the heart.
Metabolism
All of the chemical processes that occur in the body to support life including converting food into energy.
Atrioventricular Valves
Valves between the atria and ventricles preventing the backward flow of blood during cardiac contractions.
Cardiac Cycle
The action of the heart from the start of one heartbeat to the beginning of the next.
Systole
The heartbeat phase where muscle contraction moves blood from the heart chambers to the arteries.
Diastole
The heartbeat phase where the cardiac muscle relaxes and the heart chambers fill with blood.
Sinoatrial Node
The pacemaker of the heart that generates the first electrical signal of a heartbeat and stimulates the atria to contract.
Atrioventricular Node
The nerve node between the right atrium and right ventricle that propagates the electrical signal from the SA note to more distal heart nerves that cause ventricular contraction.
Stroke Volume
The amount of blood pumped by the left ventricle of the heart in one contraction.