lecture exam 3 Flashcards
What are the four functional processes performed by the respiratory system?
Pulmonary ventilation: movement of gases in and out of lungs. External respiration: gas exchange between lungs and blood. Transport gases within blood. Internal respiration: gas exchange between blood and body tissues.
Why do most inspired fine particles fail to reach the lungs?
Mucous membranes in the oral and nasal cavity, in addition to cilia and mucous in the trachea.
Trace the route of air flow in the respiratory tract from the pharynx to the alveoli.
Pharynx → larynx → trachea → primary bronchus → secondary bronchus → tertiary bronchus → bronchioles, ending in terminal bronchiole → respiratory bronchioles → alveolar duct → alveoli.
The __ consists of mucous membranes supported by the turbinate bones.
nasal cavity
What anatomical structures make up the larynx?
Epiglottis is cartilage that covers the trachea while swallowing. Structural cartilages of larynx include: thyroid, cricoid, arytenoid, and corniculate.
Vestibular folds (false vocal cords) assist in Valsalva’s maneuver, and true vocal folds vibrate to produce sound.
What anatomical structures maintain the openness of the trachea?
Rigid, stacked cartilage rings.
The walls of the alveoli are composed of two types of cells, type I and type II. What is the function of both cell types?
Type I alveolar cells allow for gas exchange, and type II alveolar cells secrete surfactant to reduce surface tension.
Where in the bronchial tree do we have the greatest surface area for gas exchange?
alveoli
What layers make up the respiratory membrane?
Alveolar wall and capillary wall
What does the surface tension from pleural fluid and negative pressure in the pleural cavity contribute to the lungs within the thoracic cavity?
Allows oxygen to diffuse more easily.
Define intrapulmonary pressure?
Pressure within alveoli (lungs).
Define each of the following gas laws: Boyle’s law, Dalton’s law, Henry’s law, Charles’ law. Describe how each of the gas laws relate to pulmonary ventilation.
Boyle’s law: inverse relationship between pressure and volume. Dalton’s law: partial pressures of gases in a mixture equals the total pressure of the mixture. Henry’s law: when a gas comes into contact with a liquid, the gas will dissolve in the liquid in proportion to its partial pressure. Charles’ law: the volume of a gas is proportional to the temperature.
Air moves __ he lungs when the pressure inside the lungs is less than atmospheric pressure. Then, air
moves __ of the lungs when the pressure inside the lungs is greater than atmospheric pressure.
into, out
Which respiratory-associated muscles would contract if you were to forcefully expire?
Mostly internal intercostals, plus other abdominal muscles.
Surfactant helps to prevent the alveoli from collapsing by
reducing surface tension.
What is lung compliance? What factors influence lung compliance?
Lung compliance is the ability of our lungs to expand. Factors that influence it include elasticity of lung tissue, amount of surface tension, and whether there are any degenerative lung diseases present.
Tidal volume (TV)
amount of air inspired during normal, relaxed breathing; ~500mL.
Inspiratory reserve volume (IRV):
additional air that can be forcibly inhaled after tidal inspiration; ~2100-3200mL.
Expiratory reserve volume (ERV)
additional air that can be forcibly
exhaled after tidal exhalation; ~1200mL.
Residual volume (RV)
volume of air remaining in lungs after
ERV is exhaled; ~1200mL.
Inspiratory capacity (IC):
maximum amount of air that can be inspired after tidal expiration; ~3600mL; IC=TV+IRV.
Functional residual capacity (FRC):
total amount of air remaining
2 in lungs after tidal expiration; ~2400mL; FRC=RV+ERV.
Vital capacity (VC):
total amount of air that can be expired after fully inhaling; ~4800mL; VC=TV+IRV+ERV.
Total lung capacity (TLC)
total amount of air that can fill lungs; ~6000mL; TLC=TV+IRV+ERV+RV.
Explain how the partial pressure gradient determines the direction of respiratory gas movement?
The partial pressure of oxygen is always lower in the tissues than the blood, which causes oxygen to diffuse
readily into the tissues (areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration). The reverse (but less
dramatic) is true for carbon dioxide.
Oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged in the lungs and through all cell membranes by
diffusion based on partial pressures.
What factors promote oxygen binding to and dissociation from hemoglobin?
To decrease affinity: increase temperature, increase in partial pressure of carbon dioxide, increase in acidity, or increase in BPG. To increase affinity: decrease temperature, decrease in partial pressure of carbon dioxide, decrease in acidity, or decrease in BPG.
What is the quantity of oxygen and carbon dioxide dissolved in the solution in the plasma? Chemically
bound to hemoglobin?
About 1.5% of oxygen is carried in plasma as a dissolved gas, and about 98.5% is bound to hemoglobin. About 7% of carbon dioxide is carried in plasma as dissolved gas, about 23% is
bound to hemoglobin.
What are possible causes of hypoxia?
Too few RBC’s, too little Hb, impaired blood circulation, poison, pulmonary disease.
Explain when the oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve will shift to either the left or right under the following conditions: low temperature, high temperature, acidosis (high H+), alkalosis (low H+). What does it mean when the curve shifts to the left versus shifts to right?
Low temperature will make the curve shift left, high temperature makes it shift right. Acidosis causes a right shift, and alkalosis causes a left shift. Left shift will increase oxygen’s affinity for hemoglobin. Though there is plenty of oxygen available, it stays attached to the hemoglobin and goes back to the lungs, without being used. Right shift will decrease oxygen’s affinity for hemoglobin. More oxygen gets released to the cells, but there is less overall oxygen coming from the lungs