heart and blood vessels

Cards (19)

  • Double circulatory system
    Blood passes through the heart twice in one complete circuit of the body e.g. in a human
  • Top chambers of the heart
    atria (atrium)
  • Bottom chambers of the heart
    ventricles
  • where does the right side of the heart pump blood to?
    deoxygenated blood to the lungs
  • where does the left side of the heart pump blood to?
    rest of the body to provide oxygen and nutrients
  • pacemaker
    A group of cells located in the right atrium that sends out signals that make the heart muscle contract and that regulates heart rate.
  • where in the heart is the pacemaker?
    right atrium
  • how can we treat a faulty pacemaker?
    artificial pacemaker
  • what does a valve do?
    prevents backflow of blood
  • Why does the left ventricle have a thicker wall than the right ventricle?
    It has to pump blood all around the body so it needs extra muscle
  • Which blood vessels carry blood away from the heart?
    arteries
  • which blood vessels carry blood to the heart?
    veins
  • What do the coronary arteries do?
    Supply oxygenated blood to the heart muscle
  • Adaptations of arteries
    Thick, elastic walls to withstand pressure.
  • Function of veins
    carry low pressure blood to the heart
  • How are veins adapted to their function?
    - the walls are not thick as blood is not carried at a low pressure
    - they have a big lumen to help blood flow
    - they have valves to keep blood flowing in the right direction
  • What is the function of capillaries?
    To exchange substances with all cells
  • Capillary adaptations
    thin walls (one cell thick) minimise diffusion distance
    large numbers of capillaries, to increase surface area for exchange
    found very near cells in exchange tissue - short diffusion pathway
    very small, red blood cell barely fits, so flows through slowly all the substances diffuse into body cells
  • How to calculate blood flow rate?
    vol of blood/ mins