More Exchange and Transport Systems - The Heart

Question 1

The LEFT side of the heart:

What blood does it receive and where from?
What blood does it pump and where to?

Answer 1

LEFT:

Receives oxygenated blood from the lungs
Pumps oxygenated blood to the rest of the body

Question 2

The RIGHT side of the heart:

What blood does it receive and where from?
What blood does it pump and where to?

Answer 2

RIGHT:

Receives deoxygenated blood from the rest of the body
Pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs

Question 3

Which vessels are on the right side of the heart?

What blood do they carry and where to?

Answer 3

RIGHT:

Vena cava - deoxygenated blood to the heart
Pulmonary artery - deoxygenated blood to the lungs

Question 4

Which vessels are on the left side of the heart?

What blood do they carry and where to?

Answer 4

LEFT:

Pulmonary vein - oxygenated blood to the heart
Aorta - oxygenated blood to the body

Question 5

List the order of vessels that blood flows through,

from deoxygenated blood from the body to the heart,
to oxygenated blood from the heart to the body
(including to and from the lungs)

Answer 5

VENA CAVA
(deox from body to heart)

PULMONARY ARTERY
(deox from heart to lungs)

PULMONARY VEIN
(ox from lungs to heart)

AORTA
(ox from heart to body)

Question 6

Which vessels carry blood to and from the kidneys?

Answer 6

RENAL ARTERY
TO kidneys

RENAL VEIN
AWAY from kidneys

Question 7

What is the heart’s own blood supply?

Answer 7

Left and right coronaty arteries

Question 8

How is the left ventricle of the heart adapted to be effective?

Answer 8

It’s thicker
and has more muscle walls than right ventricle
because it needs to contract powerfully to pump blood all the way round the body.
The right side only needs to get blood to the lungs.

Question 9

How are both ventricles adapted to be effective?

Answer 9

They have thicker walls than the atria,
because they have to push blood out of the heart
whereas the atria just need to push a short distance to the ventricles.

Question 10

What’s the purpose of the atrioventricular (AV) valves?

Answer 10

To link the artia to the ventricles and stop blood flowing back into the atria when the ventricles contract.

Question 11

What’s the purpose of the semi-lunar (SL) valves?

Answer 11

To link the ventricles to the pulmonary artery and aorta,

and stop the blood flowing back into the heart after the ventricles contract.

Question 12

What’s the purpose of the chords in the heart?

Answer 12

To attach the atrioventricular valves to the centricles to stop them being forced up into the atria when the ventricles contract.

Question 13

What is the order of contraction and relaxation of atria and ventricles?

Answer 13

[1] VENTRICLES RELAX, ATRIA CONTRACT
decreasing the volume of the atria
and increasing pressure,
pushing blood into ventricles.
There's a slight increase in ventricular pressure and volume as the blood flows in.

[2] ATRIA RELAX, VENTRICLES CONTRACT
decreasing the volume of the ventricles
and increasing the pressure.
The pressure is now higher in the ventricles than the atria,
which forces the AV valves to shut, preventing backflow.
The pressure in the ventricles is also higher
than in the aorta and pulmonary artery,
which forces the SL valves to open
and blood is forced out into these arteries.

[3] BOTH the VENTRICLES and ATRIA RELAX
The higher pressure in the pulmonary artery and aorta closes the SL valves to close to prevent backflow into the ventricles.
Blood returns to the heart and the atria fillagain due to the higher pressure in the vena cava and pulmonary vein.
In turn this starts to increase the pressure of the atria.
As the ventricles continue to relax, their pressure falls below the pressure of the atria and so the AV valves open.
This allows blood to flow passively (without atrial contraction) into the ventricles from the atria.
The atria contract, and the whole process begins again.