When you inhale, air enters your body through the nasal cavity / oral cavity.
Then the air travels through the pharynx and the larynx into the windpipe (trachea).
Then the windpipe spits into two tubes called bronchi. (singular bronchus)
→ air goes to lungs
Inside the lungs the bronchi gives air to many little tubes called bronchioles.
The bronchioles end in microscopic air sacs called alveoli.
The heart is placed in between the two lungs a little to the left.
The temperature that you inhale with your nose is very cold. That van dry out mucus or makes you ill.
So the air is warmed up by blood that runs through your nose and nose hairs.
Air contains lots of dust so it needs to be filtered. That happens by your nose hairs and mucus (snot).
The mucus is taken away in your pharynx by ciliated cells. It can now enter the oesophagus where it
is swallowed.
The olfactory cells check the air for the presence of chemical odours (geuren). When the brain says it
stinks or is dangerous you walk away from it.
Oral cavity (mond) does not have any hairs or contains mucus so you better breath through your
nose.
After, the air passes your pharynx, a passageway for air but also food and liquid.
When you swallow food or liquids the opening to your windpipe must be closed otherwise you might
suffocate.
When you swallow, the epiglottis moves down and closes the windpipe.
So you can’t talk while you're eating because then epiglottis will not close fully.
Also when you breathe through your nose. There is an opening between the nasal cavity and pharynx
and the uvula that can close it.
After passing pharynx → larynx
Inside your larynx are your vocal folds; those two elastic things are at the end of your windpipe and by
your epiglottis. They are also called the voice box, because when you exhale they can make sounds
(your voice)
making sounds
, 1.2
gas exchange and respiration
air is a mixture of gases
- nitrogen
- oxygen
- carbon dioxide
- (water vapour)
gas - inhale - exhale
nitrogen - 79% - 79%
oxygen - 21% - 17%
carbon dioxide - 0.04% - 4%
water vapour - little - a lot
what happens to the oxygen. It is used by the two processes (by fire or by glucose) during
the ‘burning’.
waste product fire = smoke
waste by cells = carbon dioxide
Water vapour is also a waste of burning glucose in the body.
Whenever you burn fuel + oxygen you produce energy, carbon dioxide and water vapour.
When this happens inside your cells it is called cellular respirations. ← the process of
breaking down glucose to get energy.
we use energy to
- keep constant body temp
- movement
- replacing and and adding (growing) cells
after the larynx air goes to the trachea / windpipe.
The windpipe must be kept open so that air can pass through it unhindered.
The windpipe is made from c- shaped things, which prevent collapsing.
They are c- shaped because there is no cartilage where the windpipe presses against the
oesophagus.
why
The windpipe divides into two parts bronchi (1= bronchus), which divides then into many little
bronchioles. There the mucus will filter again. At the end of the bronchioles you can find
many little durt sacs called alveoli (1= alveolus).
glucose + oxygen → water vapour + carbon dioxide + energy
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