Your lungs have very large surface area. About 100 square meters or 1100 square feet.
Your lungs provide a very large surface area for gas exchange.
Large surface area
The skin is an organ in the body that has a large surface area as it covers the entire external surface of the body.
The larger the exposed surface area, the faster the rate of evaporation, as there is more surface area for the liquid molecules to escape into the air. This is because more molecules are exposed to the air, increasing the likelihood of evaporation occurring. Conversely, a smaller exposed surface area will result in slower evaporation.
The air sacs in the lungs that create a large surface area for diffusion are called alveoli. These tiny, balloon-like structures facilitate the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the air and the bloodstream. Their extensive surface area allows for efficient gas exchange, which is crucial for respiratory function.
The amount of substance exposed on the surface depends on the surface area of the substance. A substance with a larger surface area will have more exposed surface compared to a substance with a smaller surface area. Factors like particle size and shape can also affect the amount of substance exposed on the surface.
If the surface area of the organism is small, then there is no problem with getting all the oxygen needed. If the surface area of the organism is large, therefore a special respiratory surface is needed. An example is lungs, gills. The ratio of surface area to volume in a small organism is greater than the ratio in a large organism.
The skin surface is not large enough for big creatures such as humans; therefore we have structures in our lungs that greatly increase the surface area.
According to fick's law rate of diffusion =(proportional to)= Surface area x Diffusion gradient Diffusion Pathway thickness So for a sufficient rate of diffusion, Surface area must be large The diffusion pathway is already at it's minimun of 1 cell thick and the gradient is harder to adjust. There are around 600 million alveoli in the lungs that have a cummulitive surface area of around 70m2.
Surface Area
Surface Area
It is the area of the exposed surface. So if you take a cube, the surface area is the sum of the areas of each of the 6 faces. They are all the same in the case of a cube. In general, add up the surface area of each exposed surface and this is the total surface area.