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How does gas exchange occur in the lungs and tissues?
During pulmonary gas exchange oxygen from inhaled air is diffused into the alveoli in the lungs and the wast product carbon dioxide from the body diffuses out through the alveoli to be exhaled back into the air. The capillaries of the cardiovascular system deliver the O2 rich blood to the tissues of the body.
What carries the oxygen and carbon dioxide to and from body tissues?
The main function of red blood cells, or erythrocytes, is to carry oxygen from the lungs to the body tissues. And to carry carbon dioxide as a waste product away from the tissues and back to the lungs. Hemoglobin is an important protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the body.
Is the exchange of gas in the lung tissue?
Gas exchange occurs in the alveoli so that oxygen is loaded into the bloodstream and carbon dioxide is unloaded from the bloodstream. Oxygen diffuses into the cells of the tissues, while carbon dioxide diffuses out of the cells of the tissues and into the bloodstream.
What is the term for the process of oxygen and carbon dioxide gas exchange in the lungs?
The lungs and respiratory system allow us to breathe. They bring oxygen into our bodies (called inspiration, or inhalation) and send carbon dioxide out (called expiration, or exhalation). This exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide is called respiration.
How are oxygen and carbon dioxide transported in the blood?
Oxygen is carried both physically dissolved in the blood and chemically combined to hemoglobin. Carbon dioxide is carried physically dissolved in the blood, chemically combined to blood proteins as carbamino compounds, and as bicarbonate.
How does the body exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide?
Exchanging Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide. 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.
Where does gas exchange take place in the lungs?
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.
How does carbon dioxide get out of the lungs?
When oxygen passes into the bloodstream, carbon dioxide leaves it. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a waste product of cellular metabolism. You get rid of it when you breathe out (exhale). This gas is transported in the opposite direction to oxygen: It passes from the bloodstream – across the lining of the air sacs – into the lungs and out into the open.
How does oxygen get from the lungs to the blood?
Each air sac is surrounded by a network of fine blood vessels (capillaries). The oxygen in inhaled air passes across the thin lining of the air sacs and into the blood vessels. This is known as diffusion. The oxygen in the blood is then carried around the body in the bloodstream, reaching every cell.