Question

How are oxygen and carbon dioxide transported in human beings? How are lungs designed to maximise the area for exchange of gases 0 study rankers?

Answer 1

Answer:

The blood serves to transport both carbon dioxide and oxygen. Oxygen is carried to the cells whereas carbon dioxide is carried away from the cells.

Within the lungs, the air passage divides into smaller and smaller tubes which finally terminate in balloon like structures called alveoli. The alveoli provide a surface where the exchange of gases can take place. The 2 lungs together have about 300-500 million alveoli. The walls of the alveoli are supplied with an extensive network of blood vessels. So lungs maximise the area for gaseous exchange through the presence of large number of alveoli which are richly supplied with blood.