Respiratory System Flashcards
What does the respiratory system do?
- supplies oxygen to the cells and removes carbon dioxide
- defending the body against micro-organisms
- producing sounds for speaking
- controlling the pH of the body
What are the 4 levels of the respiratory system?
- Ventilation or breathing
- External respiration
- Internal respiration
- Cellular repiration
What is ventilation or breathing?
- the process of inhalation and exhalation
- taking oxygen into the body and removing carbon dioxide
- the lungs are the main organs of ventilation and breathing
What is external respiration?
- the exchange of gases across the respiratory surface between the alveoli and the blood (alveoli are found in the lungs)
- the alveolar surface must be moist for this to occur
- blood carries oxygen from the lungs to the cells of the body
What is internal respiration?
- the exchange of gases between the blood and the individual cells or tissues that the oxygen is transferred to
- oxygen diffuses out of the blood and carbon dioxide diffuses in
- this makes cellular respiration possible
What is cellular respiration and where does it occur?
- occurs in the mitochondria
- oxygen is used to obtain energy in the form of ATP
What does the nasal and oral cavities do?
- the air is filtered by hair-like cilia on the surface of these passages
- the air is also warmed as it passes through the nasal cavity
- must be moist
What does the cilia of the nasal cavity do?
-cilia help remove dirt from the respiratory system
What is the pharynx and what does it do?
- shared by the digestive and respiratory system
- connects both the trachea and the esophagus (two branches)
- the epiglottis prevents food from entering the trachea and prevents air from entering the esophagus
- the epiglottis moves between the larynx and the esophagus
What is the larynx and what does it do?
- the voice box or the “Adam’s Apple”
- air being pushed past the vocal cords will create sound
What is the trachea and what does it do?
- a tube lined with cartilaginous rings that air passes into
- lined with cilia that move dirt and debris out of the trachea
- lined with mucus to move dirt and debris out of the trachea) the cilia beat and push foreign particles out like an escalator moving people
What are the bronchi?
- these structures connect with the trachea and branch into left and right lung
- bronchus= 1 of them
What are the bronchides?
- the bronchi branch into the bronchioles
- these are lined with cilia and mucus
What are the alveoli and what do they do?
- the bronchioles branch and end with the alveoli
- the alveoli are structures that are only one cell thick, this allows diffusion to occur
- the alveoli are the site of gas exchange
- the alveoli exchanges gases with the capillaries through diffusion (movement of particles from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration)
Are the lungs muscles?
No
Where in the body would you find the lungs? (and heart)
-the thoracic (chest) cavity
What protects the lungs?
-contained within pleura (2 membranous sacs which surround and protect the lungs)
What is the inner pleuron?
-attached to the surface of the lungs
What is the outer pleuron?
-attached to the walls of the chest cavity and upper surface of the diaphragm
What does the diaphragm?
-separates the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity
What separates the pleura and what does it do?
- a thin layer of fluid
- reduces the friction produced when the lungs move against the walls of the chest cavity
Why do lungs collapse?
-when the seal is broken and don’t move with the chest wall and inflate
What occurs during inhalation? (mechanics of breathing?
- muscular diaphragm contracts and moves down
- intercostal muscles contract and move rib cage out and up
- these actions expand the chest cavity and the lungs fill with air
What occurs during exhalation? (mechanics of breathing)
- diaphragm relaxes and moves up
- intercostal muscles relax and this moves rib cage in and down
- these actions decrease the volume of the chest cavity
What happens to the thoracic cavity during inhalation?
-expands which decreases air pressure, causing air to enter lungs
What happens to the thoracic cavity during exhalation?
-decreases in volume which increases air pressure, causing air to leave lungs
