Cardiac Cycle

• What does systole mean?


  Contraction
• What does diastole mean?


  Relaxation
• What occurs during atrial systole?


  Blood in the atria is forced into ventricles through the atrioventricular valves
• What occurs during ventricular systole/atrial diastole?


  Blood pressure is higher in the ventricles than the arteries and atria, but blood cannot move into the atria thanks to the atrioventricular valves so it only moves into the arteries through the semilunar valves
• Where are the nodes which send electrical signals to heart muscles causing the heart to beat?


  Right atrium