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What are spongy organs consisting of prograssively small air passage ways leading to Avleoli?
Lungs.
What is the function of avleoli?
The alveoli are at the end of the respiratory tree and is where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged between the lungs and the blood.
What order does air go through the respiratory system?
Trachea -> Avleoli -> Brochus -> Bronchioles
What is the purpose of the alveoli and where is it located?
Alveoli are tiny sacs of air located in your lungs. There are millions of them in your lungs, and they fill up with oxygen when you inhale. They greatly increase the surface area of the lungs so that more oxygen can enter your bloodstream.
Why are lungs important?
Lungs contain avleoli ( little air sacs) where oxygen is relased into capillaries(veins that carry blood). The blood becomes oxygenated and then travels to the heart to be pumped throughout the body. They supply the body with oxygen and remove carbon dioxide.
Where does oxygen enter the blood stream?
In the lungs. As we breathe, air travels down the pharynx (throat), into the trachea, and into the lungs. Its journey into the lungs begins with the trachea. The trachea branches off into two limbs called your bronchi. Two, because there is one for each of your lungs. Just like a tree, the limbs get smaller. These smaller limbs are called bronchioles. Now, we covered all that because at the very tips of the bronchioles are a collection of berry-like sac structures called avleoli. This is where the magic takes place (ok, I admit, it's not that dramatic). The air ( which contains oxygen) has traveled this far and it now fills the alveoli. The large pulmonary artery leading from the heart travels toward the lungs. As it progresses closer and closer it splits into smaller and smaller vessels, until it forms capillaries. These pulmonary capillaries are covering the alveoli. This can be visualised by thinking of a net or webbing around a round sac-like structure. The pulmonary capillaries are filled with blood that's been all around the body, and is now low in oxygen and rich in carbon dioxide. Back to the alveoli. The wall is so thin it's able to allow diffusion of oxygen into the capillaries. Diffusion is the tendency of the molecules of a substance to move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. In this situation the alveoli are filled with oxygen rich air, and the blood in the pulmonary capillaries has very little. The oxygen diffuses into the capillaries replenishing those oxygen starved blood cells. Carbon dioxide moves the other way.
