Difference between revisions of "Lung"

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'''Lungs''' are one of the largest [[organ]]s in most animal's bodies.  They are a part of the [[respiratory system]] and play a key role in taking in fresh air, getting rid of stale air, and [[talk]]ing. Lungs are situated in the chest, and they are so large that they take up most of the space there. Most mammals have two lungs, but they aren't the same size the way your eyes or nostrils are. Instead, the lung on the left side of your body is a bit smaller than the lung on the right. This extra space on the left leaves room for your [[heart]]. Lungs are protected by the [[rib cage]], which is made up of 12 sets of ribs. These ribs are connected to your spine in your back and go around your lungs to keep them safe. Beneath the lungs is the [[diaphragm]], a dome-shaped muscle that works with your lungs to allow you to inhale and exhale air.
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'''Lungs''' are organs occupying the chest cavity which are responsible for oxygenating the [[blood]] supply.  
  
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==Anatomy==
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==Anatomy and Medicine==
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From the outside, lungs are pink and a bit squishy, like a [[sponge]]. At the bottom of the [[trachea]] there are two large tubes. These tubes are called the main stem bronchi, and one heads left into the left lung, while the other heads right into the right lung. Each main stem bronchus - the name for just one of the bronchi - then branches off into tubes, or bronchi, that get smaller and even smaller still, like branches on a big [[tree]]. The tiniest tubes are called bronchioles, and there are about 30,000 of them in each lung. Each bronchiole is about the same thickness as a [[hair]]. At the end of each bronchiole is a special area that leads into clumps of teeny tiny air sacs called alveoli. There are about 600 million alveoli in your lungs and if you stretched them out, they would cover an entire football stadium. Each alveolus - the name for one of the alveoli - has a mesh-like covering of very small blood vessels called capillaries. These capillaries are so tiny that the cells in your blood need to line up single file just to march through them.
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[[Image:Lungs.jpg|240px|thumb|Bronchi and Lungs]]
  
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==Breathing==
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Lungs are made of a stetchy, spongy tissue which can expand and contract, forcing air in and out of the lungs. The air then follows narrower and narrower tubes, called bronchioles, until it reaches small air sacs called alveoli.
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While breathing, an organism's diaphragm contracts and flattens out. This allows it to move down, so the lungs have more room to grow larger as they fill up with air. The diaphragm isn't the only part that gives your lungs the room they need. Your rib muscles also lift the ribs up and outward to give the lungs more space. Simultaneously, you inhale air through your mouth and nose, and the air heads down your trachea. On the way down the windpipe, tiny hairs called cilia move gently to keep mucus and dirt out of the lungs. The air then goes through the series of branches in your lungs, through the bronchi and the bronchioles. The air finally ends up in the 600 million alveoli. As these millions of alveoli fill up with air, the lungs get bigger. The alveoli allow [[oxygen]] from the air to pass into your [[blood]]. All the cells in the body need oxygen every minute of the day. Oxygen passes through the walls of each alveolus into the tiny capillaries that surround it. The oxygen enters the blood in the tiny capillaries, hitching a ride on [[red blood cell]]s and traveling through layers of blood vessels to the [[heart]]. The heart then sends the oxygenated blood out to all the cells in the body.
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Within each air sac, [[oxygen]] passes (or diffuses) across the alveolar membrane into the pulmonary capillary. At the beginning of the pulmonary capillary, the hemoglobin in the red blood cells has carbon dioxide bound to it and very little oxygen. The oxygen binds to hemoglobin and the carbon dioxide is released. Carbon dioxide is also released from sodium bicarbonate dissolved in the blood of the pulmonary capillary. The concentration of carbon dioxide is high in the pulmonary capillary, so carbon dioxide leaves the blood and passes across the alveolar membrane into the air sac. This exchange of gases occurs rapidly (fractions of a second). The [[carbon dioxide]] then leaves the alveolus during exhalation and the oxygen-enriched blood returns to the heart for circulation around the body.
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==Smoking==
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== External links ==
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*[http://kidshealth.org/kid/htbw/lungs.html Your Lungs & Respiratory System] For Kids.
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*[http://www.smm.org/heart/lungs/top.html About Your Lungs] Science Museum of Minnesota.
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[[Category:Anatomy]]

Latest revision as of 20:45, February 2, 2015

Lungs are organs occupying the chest cavity which are responsible for oxygenating the blood supply.

Anatomy and Medicine

Bronchi and Lungs

Lungs are made of a stetchy, spongy tissue which can expand and contract, forcing air in and out of the lungs. The air then follows narrower and narrower tubes, called bronchioles, until it reaches small air sacs called alveoli.

Within each air sac, oxygen passes (or diffuses) across the alveolar membrane into the pulmonary capillary. At the beginning of the pulmonary capillary, the hemoglobin in the red blood cells has carbon dioxide bound to it and very little oxygen. The oxygen binds to hemoglobin and the carbon dioxide is released. Carbon dioxide is also released from sodium bicarbonate dissolved in the blood of the pulmonary capillary. The concentration of carbon dioxide is high in the pulmonary capillary, so carbon dioxide leaves the blood and passes across the alveolar membrane into the air sac. This exchange of gases occurs rapidly (fractions of a second). The carbon dioxide then leaves the alveolus during exhalation and the oxygen-enriched blood returns to the heart for circulation around the body.

Smoking

External links

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