Circulatory and Respiratory Systems Flashcards
cardiovascular system
composed of a muscular, four-chambered heart, a network of blood vessels and the blood itself
aorta
this is where blood is pumped
arteries
- branches from the aorta
- thick-walled muscular, elastic vessels that transport oxygenated blood away from the heart
arterioles
branches from the arteries
capillaries
- branches from the arteries
- have the smallest diameter of all three types of vessels
- red blood cells must often travel through them single file
venules
converged capillaries
veins
- converged venules, which carry deoxygenated blood back toward the heart
- relatively thin-walled, ineleastic vessels that conduct deoxygenated blood toward the heart
The Heart
- the driving force of the circulatory system
- the right side of the heart pumps deoxygenated blood into pulmonary circulation toward (toward the lungs)
- the left side pumps oxygenated blood into systemic circulation (throughout the body)
- the two upper chambers are called atria and the two lower chambers are called ventricles
atria
thin-walled
ventricles
- muscular
- the left ventricle is more muscular than the right ventricle b/c it is responsible for generating the force that propels the systematic circulation and because it pumps against higher resistance
Blood Flow
- blood returning from the body first flow through the right atrium, then through the tricuspid valve into the right ventricle, and finally through the pulmonary semilunar valve into the pulmonary arteries to continue to the lungs
- blood returning from the lungs flows through the pulmonary veins into the left atrium, then through the mitral valve into left ventricle and finally out through the aortic semilunar valve into the systemic circulation
Atrioventricular Valves
prevent backflow of blood into the atria
Tricuspid Valve
the valve on the right side of the heart and has three cusps
Mitral Valve
the valve on the left side of the heart and two ups
Semilunar Valves
have three cups and are located between the left ventricle and the aorta and between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery