Why does oxygen diffuse from the blood into the lungs?

Answer 1

Because your living cells constantly produce Carbon Dioxide. So if your muscles are producing Carbon Dioxide constantly and then your blood cells come along carrying oxygen, the Carbon Dioxide is pulled into your blood vessels and exchanged with oxygen. So then when your blood cells come in contact with the lower pressured air in the alveolus, the opposite happens...carbon dioxide is pulled out of the blood cells and into the air while oxygen is pulled inward.

Answer 2

Oxygen is carried in the blood by virtue of combining reversibly with the haemoglobin in the RBC to form oxyhaemoglobin, an unstable compound that forms when the oxygen binds to the heme component of the protein hemoglobin in red blood cells. It travels in this form until it reaches the recipient cells, in this case the muscle cells, and then is released, passes through the capillary wall, diffuses into the cell and then is utilized by the muscle cell.

Answer 3

We need oxygen for aerobic respiration, which takes place all the time in our cells. In the alveoli of the lungs, oxygen diffuses into our capillaries mainly due to a steep concentration gradient, thanks to a rich blood supply which passes the alveoli. Diffusion is further aided by having a thin cell membrane for the gases to pass through - less than 40 micrometres! The same happens as the capillaries, rich with O2, pass by our cells. The gradient of oxygen between the blood plasma and the cytoplasm of our cells is such that the gas transfers into the cell. The capillaries are one cell thick, and permeable, to ensure this diffusion occurs as efficiently as possible.

Answer 4

This process is thru the use of passive transport. The oxygen in you lungs are of a higher concentration than it is in your blood and since hemoglobin likes oxygen it moves naturally into the the blood supply in the lungs. Your blood is then returned to the heart and pumped throughout the body. Because your blood has more oxygen in it than your cells do the blood thru the use of passive transport again give the oxygen to the cells and pick up waste product and carbon dioxide to be returned eventually to the heart. Your blood is then returned to the lungs where the blood once again disposes of the carbon dioxide thru the use of passive transport and picks up oxygen.

Answer 5

Because there is more oxygen in the blood than the muscle, oxygen moves from the capillaries to the muscles down the concentration gradient naturally.

Answer 6

Yes, oxygen diffuses from the air into the blood while CO2 diffuses from the blood into the air

Answer 7

Blood is oxygenated in the lungs and thus adds energy to the muscles.