Respiratory System Flashcards
Nose
The nose allows air to enter your body, filters debris, warms and moistens the air, and provides a sense of smell.
Nasal cavity
The nasal cavity warms, humidifies, and filters the air you breathe.
Throat (Pharynx):
The pharynx delivers air from your mouth and nose to the trachea (windpipe)
Mouth
The mouth is involved in letting in air
Windpipe (Trachea):
The trachea carries air in and out of your lungs, splits up into two bronchi tubes, has mucus producing cells and cilia.
Lungs:
The lungs remove oxygen from the air and pass it into your blood
Bronchus:
Bronchi are large tubes that connect the trachea to the lungs
Bronchioles
Bronchioles are smaller branches of the bronchi.
Ribs:
Ribs surround and protect the lungs and heart.
Alveolus
Alveoli are tiny air sacs in the lungs where gas exchange occurs.
Diaphragm:
The diaphragm is a muscle that aids in breathing.
Distinguish between breathing (ventilation), gas exchange and cellular respiration
Ventilation = Inhalation and exhalation of air
Gas exchange - the process whereby the body cells obtain oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide
Cellular respiration - the series of chemical reactions that occurring the cells that provide energy and consume oxygen
Trace the path of air from the nose into the bloodstream
Nose - nasal cavity - throat (pharynx) - trachea - lungs - bronchi - bronchioles - alveoli
Features of alveoli that make them suited for gas exchange. Explain how oxygen and carbon dioxide move between the alveoli and the bloodstream AND the blood and tissues
Their shape allows for greater surface area and therefore diffusion, as well as the walls being so thin oxygen or carbon dioxide can pass through. Oxygen diffuses from the air in the alveoli to the blood stream while carbon dioxide does that reverse. In the blood and tissues oxygen diffuses from the RBCs to the cells and carbon dioxide from the cells diffuses into the RBCs. Low area of [concentration] to high area of [concentration]
Describe the mechanism of breathing (both inhaling and exhaling)
Terms: diaphragm, internal and external intercostal muscles, lungs’ pressure and volume
When you inhale the diaphragm and external intercostal muscles contract and move down making the lungs pressure low forcing air into the lungs. When you exhale the opposite happens the diaphragm and external and internal intercostal muscles relax and move up making the lungs pressure high forcing air out of the lungs.
NOTE: Air move from high pressure to low pressure areas
