Respiratory Sytem Flashcards
Explain the function of the nose
- hairs stop particles from entering
- capillaries warm air as it enters the nose
- mucous membranes have cilia, increasing the air flow
What is the pharynx?
-passageway for food and air
-connects trachea and esophagus
Has epiglottis, which prevents food from entering the wrong tube by covering the trachea.
What is the larynx?
The voice box. Contains two vocal chords made of cartilage. As air is breathed out, the vocal chords vibrate to produce sounds.
What is the trachea?
Passageway for air. Kept open by rings of cartilage. Lined with a mucous membrane.
What are the bronchi?
End of the trachea that divides in two. Made of cartilage rings as well. And mucous. Enter the lungs in a tree-like fashion.
What are the bronchioles?
Don’t have the supporting rings of cartilage, which can cause the, to collapse (asthma attacks).
What are the alveoli?
Look like a cluster of grapes. One cell thick. Then and moist and have large surface area. Site of gas exchange. Surrounded by capillaries for that purpose.
Explain gas exchange
Oxygen diffuses from alveoli into capillaries and pumped to the rest of the body. Carbon dioxide is produced as a waste product and is diffused from capillaries to alveoli, then exhaled.
Explain the lungs.
Surrounded by a double membrane called pleural membrane. Allows lungs to move without friction. If the seal of the membrane is broken, lungs collapse.
What are the important muscles for breathing?
Diaphragm -separates the thoracic cavity from the abdominal cavity. Moves downwards during inspiration.
Intercostal - side of rib cage. During inspiration, they contract, causing rib cage to move up and away from body.
Explain how breathing works.
When we breath in, the diaphragm contracts and moves downwards and the intercostal muscles contract, causing the rib cage to move up and out. This increases the volume of the lungs and decreases the pressure: since air moves from high to low pressure, the lungs fill with air. When we exhale, both the diaphragm and intercostal muscles relax, causing the volume in the lungs to decrease and the pressure to increase, moving the air out of the lungd.
Explain. The different types of lung volumes.
Tidal - volume of gas inhaled or exhaled during regular breathing.
Inspirations reserve volume - the maximum volume of gas that can be inspired from the end of a tidal inspiration
Expiratory reserve volume - the Max volume of gas that can be exhaled after the end of a tidal exhalation.
Residual volume - the amount gas always remains in the lungs after a maximum exhalation
Vital capacity - the max amount of gas expired after a max inhalation
Explain what controls our breathing.
Increase in carbon dioxide causes a faster breathing rate.
When the medulla senses a certain concentration of co2 in the body, it will send nerve impulses to initiate faster movement of the rib cage
Can you hold your breath until you die?
No, you will eventually have so much build up of carbon dioxide that your body will make you breathe.
What is hypoxia?
At high elevations, air is thinner and pressure is lower. So there is less oxygen available for inspiration. When someone first arrives at high altitudes, the body can’t get enough air, leading to hypoxia. First response is increased breathing rate, bringing more oxygen into contact with alveoli. Then the body produces more red blood cells to deliver more oxygen to the body.
