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Once inhaled air enters the lungs, oxygen is absorbed through the alveoli in the lungs and enters the blood stream. The oxygenated blood travels through the pulmonary vein to enter the left atrium -> left ventricle of the heart, which is the pumping chamber.

The heart then pumps this oxygenated blood via aorta (the majory artery) to all the different muscles and organs in the body. As the oxygenated blood approaches its target destination, oxygen diffuses out of the artery, through the capillaries, and into the oxygen deficient area. The muscle/ organ/ whatever now has oxygen to utilize!

At the same time, HCO3-, a molecule that essentially exists for carbon dioxide to be liquid soluble, diffuses through the capillary into the vein. The deoxygenated blood is then forced back into the right atrium-> right ventricle-> pulmonary artery back into the lungs to be oxygenated once more.

The path is simple, but understand that the process of diffusion is a matter of both chemical equilibria (remember, movement is high solute-> low solute) and osmotic balance.

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14y ago

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