describe the direction of flow of blood in the body and through the heart.
Answers
Answer:
Blood enters the heart through two large veins, the inferior and superior vena cava, emptying oxygen-poor blood from the body into the right atrium of the heart.
As the atrium contracts, blood flows from your right atrium into your right ventricle through the open tricuspid valve.
When the ventricle is full, the tricuspid valve shuts. This prevents blood from flowing backward into the atria while the ventricle contracts.
• As the ventricle contracts, blood leaves the heart through the pulmonic valve, into the pulmonary artery and to the lungs where it is oxygenated. Note that oxygen-poor or CO2 containing blood goes through the pulmonary artery to the lungs where CO2 is exchanged for O2.
The pulmonary vein empties oxygen-rich blood from the lungs into the left atrium of the heart.
As the atrium contracts, blood flows from your left atrium into your left ventricle through the open mitral valve.
When the ventricle is full, the mitral valve shuts. This prevents blood from flowing backward into the atrium while the ventricle contracts.
As the ventricle contracts, oxygen-enriched blood leaves the heart through the aortic valve, into the aorta and to the arteries and eventually into veins to complete the blood circulation in your body.