Chapter 7.1 Flashcards
What is oxygen vital to?
Cellular respiration
What is the main function of the human respiratory system?
Ensure oxygen is brought to each cell in the body and carbon dioxide can leave each cell and be removed from the body
What is the 1st main requirement for cellular respiration?
1) The surface area or (respiratory surface) must be large enough for the exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen to occur at fast enough rates to meet the body’s needs
What is the 2nd main requirement for cellular respiration?
Respiration must take place in a moist environment so that oxygen and CO2 are dissolved in water
What are the 2 basic processes in breathing?
Inspiration and expiration
What does inspiration do?
Moves air from the external environment to lungs inside the body
What does Expiration do?
Moves air from the lungs back to the external environment
What is external respiration?
The exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the air and the blood
What is internal respiration?
The exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the body’s tissue cells and the blood
What are the lungs protected by?
The bone and muscular structure of the thoracic chest cavity
What is the passage way that moves air from the external environment to the respiratory surface inside the body?
The respiratory tract
Was is the purpose of the nasal passages?
They serve to warm, moisten and clean incoming air
What are the nasal passages lined with?
Ciliated cells
How do the nasal passages clean air?
Cells secrete mucus which cleans air by trapping bacteria and dust
How do the ciliated cells work?
They move foreign particles back up the nose and throat so they can be expelled by coughing or sneezing
What bones project into the nasal cavity?
Turbinate bones
What is the function of turbinate bones?
They increase the SA of the nasal passages and are covered with cilia to catch and remove air particles
What are the turbinate bones and the rest of the lining of the nasal passages covered with?
A thin membrane that secretes mucus and is well supplied with blood vessels
What warms and moistens the air as it passes through the nasal cavity?
Heat from blood vessels and mucus in the nasal cavity
Why is the warming and moistening of the air necessary?
To protect the delicate structures in the lower respiratory tract
What is the pharynx commonly known as?
The throat
What is the pharynx used for?
It is the passageway for air into the respiratory system and for food and water in the digestive system
What is the epiglottis?
A flap of cartilage that lies behind the tongue and in form of the larynx
What is the function of the epiglottis?
To cover the area of the trachea called the glottis when a person swallows
What position is the epiglottis at when it is at rest?
It is upright and allows air to pass unobstructed
What is another name for the larynx?
The voice box
What is the larynx made out of and what does it contain?
It is made from cartilage and contain vocal chords
How does the larynx act when you breath normally?
There is a large gap between your vocal chords
How does the larynx act when you speak?
Muscles around the larynx contract and vocal chords are drawn together and as air passes through the narrow space is causes the vocal cords to vibrate and make a sound
What kind of sound do longer vocal cords make?
A lower sound
What kind of sound do shorter vocal cords make?
A higher sound
Where does air go after it passes through the larynx?
It moves through the trachea
What is the trachea strengthened by?
Semicircular , cartilaginous arches that prevent it from collapsing. The open part faces the esophagus allowing it to expand
What does the trachea branch into?
2 smaller passageways called bronchi that enter the right and left lungs
What does each bronchi subdivide into?
Smaller finer tubes called bronchioles within the lungs
What supports the bronchus?
C shaped cartilage rings that surround and are a part of the bronchus wall. Bronchioles don’t have these rings
What is the function of the cartilage rings around the bronchi?
They are stacked one on top of the next providing support
What are both the bronchi and the bronchioles lined with?
Cilia and mucus producing cells
What does the mucus do in the bronchi and bronchioles?
Captures foreign molecules like microscopic pollutants and pathogens
What do the cilia do in the bronchi and bronchioles?
They move the foreign particles into the upper respiratory tract so they can be ejected or swallowed
What are the regions that lungs are divided into called?
Lobes
How many lobes does the right lung have?
3
How many lungs does the left lung have?
2 to leave room for the heart
What is each lobe made of?
Lobules that extend from each bronchiole
What is each lung surrounded by?
A thin double layered membrane called the pleural membrane
What does the outer layer of the pleural membrane attach to?
The inside of the chest wall
What does the inner layer of the pleural membrane attach to?
The lung
what fills the space between the double layer of the pleural membrane?
Fluid fills the space so they can adhere to each other like 2 paper place with water between them
What is the function of the pleural layer membranes?
They connect the lungs to the thoracic cavity enabling them to expand and contract with movement of the chest
What does each bronchiole end with?
A cluster of tiny sacs called alveoli
What takes place within the alveoli?
The actual exchange of gasses during external respiration
What is each alveolus enclosed by?
A membrane called the alveolar wall
What are the characteristics of the alveolar wall?
It is one cell thick and surrounded by a network of capillaries
What are capilliaries?
Tiny blood vessels (with walls one cell thick) that link arteries with veins
What is the arrangement of bronchioles and alveoli kept constant by?
Connective tissue that fills the space between them
What are alveoli lined with?
A lubricating film that helps to keep them from collapsing and prevents their side from sticking together
