Smoking Knowledge organiser

• The air we breathe

  The air we breathe contains particles and bacteria that are potentially dangerous if they get into the delicate alveoli of the lungs.

  The air we breathe in and out contain different proportions of gasses because we use up oxygen and produce carbon dioxide and water
• We breath in 21% oxygen and breath out 16%
• We breathe in 0.04% carbon dioxide and we breath out 4% carbon dioxide because our body's produce carbon dioxide and need to get rid of it, that is why we breathe out more that we breathe in
• We breathe in 78% nitrogen and we breathe out 78% nitrogen because we don't need it
• There are chemicals in cigarette smoke that are harmful to our body's, such as Tar which contains carcinogens that cause lung cancer, and nicotine which is the chemical that makes us addicted to cigarettes
• Emphysema


  This disease is cause by the alveolar walls breaking down, reducing the surface area for gas exchange. A patient would struggle to get enough oxygen to complete regular activities