What is alveoli? What is it’s role in respiration ?
Answers
✴What is alveoli?
Alveoli are tiny sacs within our lungs that allow oxygen and carbon dioxide to move between the lungs and bloodstream. Learn more about how they function and quiz your knowledge at the end
✳What is it’s role in respiration
Alveoli are an important part of the respiratory system whose function it is to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules to and from the bloodstream. These tiny, balloon-shaped air sacs sit at the very end of the respiratory tree and are arranged in clusters throughout the lungs.
Alveoli are an important part of the respiratory system whose function it is to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules to and from the bloodstream. These tiny, balloon-shaped air sacs sit at the very end of the respiratory tree and are arranged in clusters throughout the lungs.The respiratory system aids in breathing, also called pulmonary ventilation. In pulmonary ventilation, air is inhaled through the nasal and oral cavities (the nose and mouth). It moves through the pharynx, larynx, and trachea into the lungs. Then air is exhaled, flowing back through the same pathway. Changes to the volume and air pressure in the lungs trigger pulmonary ventilation. During normal inhalation, the diaphragm and external intercostal muscles contract and the ribcage elevates. As the volume of the lungs increases, air pressure drops and air rushes in. During normal exhalation, the muscles relax. The lungs become smaller, the air pressure rises, and air is expelled.
The bloodstream delivers oxygen to cells and removes waste carbon dioxide through internal respiration, another key function of the respiratory system. In this respiratory process, red blood cells carry oxygen absorbed from the lungs around the body, through the vasculature. When oxygenated blood reaches the narrow capillaries, the red blood cells release the oxygen. It diffuses through the capillary walls into body tissues. Meanwhile, carbon dioxide diffuses from the tissues into red blood cells and plasma. The deoxygenated blood carries the carbon dioxide back to the lungs for release