Human respiratory system

Question 1

How do organisms breathe

Answer 1

• lung based respiration: only one opening
• Inhalation - the diaphragm and other muscles contract. This increases the volume of the chest cavity, thereby reducing the pressure and creating a vacuum-like suction. Air flows into the lungs
  Exhalation - The diaphragm and other muscles relax. This decreases the volume of the chest cavity forcing air out
  The diaphragm is like a plunger in a syringe

Question 2

hat structures make up the respiratory system?

Answer 2

Pharynx or throat
Larynx or voice box
Trachea or windpipe
Two bronchi
Alveoli (tiny sacs at the end of the bronchioles) are the site of gas exchange between air and blood

Question 3

How do the respiratory and cardiovascular systems cooperate to deliver oxygen to body cells and remove carbon dioxide from tissues?

Answer 3

The respiratory system works in close conjunction with the cardiovascular system. Capillaries in the alveoli of the lungs aere sites of gas exchange between air and blood
Oxygen is picked up by the blood and carried by hemoglobin in red blood cells
Hemoglobin binds reversibly to oxygen, picking it up from the lungs and dropping it off in the tissues
Carbon Dioxide Transport in the Blood
Picked up at tissues after cellular respiration and brought back to lungs
7% is transported in plasma
23% binds to the globin portion of hemoglobin - Hemoglobin bound to CO2 is called carbaminohemoglobin
70% is transported in plasma as bicarbonate ion (H2CO3-)

Question 4

What factors influence the oxygen-carrying capacity of blood and breathing rate?

Answer 4

Levels of CO2 and oxygen in the blood
Blood’s PH