What is the area of the lungs where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged?
Tiny air sacs at the end of the bronchioles (tiny branches of air tubes in the lungs). The alveoli are where the lungs and the blood exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide during the process of breathing in and breathing out.
What part of the lung absorbs oxygen?
The bronchioles end in tiny air sacs called alveoli, where oxygen is transferred from the inhaled air to the blood. After absorbing oxygen, the blood leaves the lungs and is carried to the heart. The blood then is pumped through your body to provide oxygen to the cells of your tissues and organs.
Where are oxygen and carbon dioxide picked up and released in the body?
Oxygen-deficient, carbon dioxide-rich blood returns to the right side of the heart through two large veins, the superior vena cava and the inferior vena cava. Then the blood is pumped through the pulmonary artery to the lungs, where it picks up oxygen and releases carbon dioxide.
What area of the lungs does respiration occur?
Bronchioles end in tiny air sacs called alveoli, where the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide actually takes place. Each person has hundreds of millions of alveoli in their lungs.
How do the lungs convert oxygen to carbon dioxide?
Gas exchange takes place in the millions of alveoli in the lungs and the capillaries that envelop them. As shown below, inhaled oxygen moves from the alveoli to the blood in the capillaries, and carbon dioxide moves from the blood in the capillaries to the air in the alveoli.
Why do we breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide?
When we take a breath, we pull air into our lungs that contains mostly nitrogen and oxygen. When we exhale, we breathe out mostly carbon dioxide. Oxygen helps our cells work harder by breaking down the nutrients we get from food like sugars. With sugars and oxygen, our cells can create the energy they need to function.