Unit 7, Circulatory and Respiratory System - M1

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Unit 7 - Anatomy and Physiology – M1 Respiratory System. The respiratory system is designed to make sure that we are able to breathe in oxygen and also so that we can breathe out any waste products e.g. Carbon Dioxide. The lungs are responsible for supplying oxygen to the blood and to expel waste gasses from the body (carbon dioxide). Also if the lungs were spread out where it was 1 cell of thickness the lung would be able to fill the size of a tennis court this is so it can get as much air as it possibly can into the air sacs. When you sneeze or cough if you breathe some dust in it is an action reflex. There are 7 steps of the respiratory system which are; i. Air entering. ii. Air travels down the Trachea. iii. Air travels into both bronchus. iv. Air travels into the bronchioles. v. Alveoli passes oxygen to the blood capillary. vi. Oxygen is delivered to the body. vii. Carbon dioxide is passed from the blood into the lungs. The air enters through the nose and mouth and there are tiny hairs inside your nose and in the throat called cilia that traps the dust particles before it travels down the trachea into the bronchus then into the bronchioles and into the alveoli which you will find in the lungs. The alveoli passes the oxygen to the blood capillary by diffusion (high – low) and this is also how the waste (carbon dioxide) is passed back to the lungs to be breathed out this is why there is only a thin membrane so it can be passed through easily. Also diffusion is the movement of molecules from a region of low concentration until the concentrations are equal. When the air enters the body the upper airway (from the nostrils to the vocal cords), the sinuses either warm or cool the air that has been breathed in depending on the weather you have breathed in e.g. if it is hot it will cool the air down and if it’s cold it will warm the air
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