How Lung Works?
Ask yourself about some of the activities that you perform daily. You will get a long list of activities like playing, watching movies, eating, brushing and so on. But do you ever realize that one activity that you do all along the day for several times. Yes, you are correct, the activity of breathing. That is something which is very much essential to keep yourself alive. Knowingly or unknowingly, we breathe around 15 to 25 times in a single minute. So, which is the organ takes the charge of accomplishing this important activity? If your answer is the lungs, its absolutely right!!!!
Lungs are one of the largest organs of our body which takes actively participate in respiratory system. Lungs not only help in inhaling fresh air and relieving harmful things from our body, but also help in talking. Lungs play an important role in eliminating the harmful gases such as carbon dioxide from the body and providing essential gases such as oxygen to the body. Let us learn more about this important part of our body.
Journey of the Air
Air that we inhale goes to the lungs but has to pass down from various organs in the route. As you inhale the air from the nose or mouth, it reaches to the trachea via the epiglottis. The journey of air continues to vocal cords in the larynx and meets the bronchi. Bronchi are the entrance for the air to reach the lungs. Inside the lungs, the air passes through bronchioles until it reaches the alveoli. The inhaled air stops its journey at the alveoli. Before understanding what happens inside the lungs, we will have to understand the different organs which participate in the respiration phenomena.
Anatomy of the Lungs
Lungs are surrounded by number of important organs that participate in respiration. The entire list of such organs and their importance is as follows:
- Alveolus (plural- alveoli)- tiny, thin-walled air sac where gas exchange occurs.
- Bronchioles- numerous small tubes arising from the bronchus.
- Bronchus (plural- bronchi)- a branch of trachea that passes into the lung.
- Diaphragm- muscle which contracts and relaxes during the breathing.
- Epiglottis- a flap of tissue that helps in preventing the entry of food while swallowing.
- Intercostal muscles- muscles along the rib cage that helps in breathing.
- Larynx- voice box and the location of vocal cords.
- Nasal cavity- chamber in the nose where air is moistened and warmed.
- Pulmonary capillaries- small blood vessels that surrounds alveolus.
- Trachea- rigid tube that connects the mouth with the bronchi.
Working of the Lungs
The main function of lungs is to take carbon dioxide from the blood and provide oxygen to the blood. This oxygen-rich blood is transported to the heart from where it is spread throughout the body. The concentration of carbon dioxide is high in pulmonary capillaries while the oxygen concentration is high in alveolar membranes. At the beginning of the pulmonary capillary, carbon dioxide concentration is high in the hemoglobin of the red blood cells. The oxygen gets bind to hemoglobin and the carbon dioxide is released. As the concentration of carbon dioxide is high in pulmonary capillaries, it leaves the blood and passes across the alveolar membrane. When you exhale, carbon dioxide leaves the alveolus and the oxygenated blood flows to the heart.
This is how lungs help in keeping the oxygen level high and carbon dioxide low. Thus, the oxygen is passed to different parts of our body for their well-functioning.
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