Medium

Veins
Tunic
blood vessel
wall

Tunic Intima
innermost
layer

Tunic Media
...

Tunic
Adventitia
...
Elastic
Arteries
...largest
diameter;
thickest walls
Muscular
Arteries
...mediumsized and small
arteries
Venules
...slightly
larger
diameter than
capillaries
Small Veins
...larger
diameter than
venules

...collects
blood from
small veins
and delivers it
to large veins
Large Veins
...diameters
greater than 2
mm; have
valves that
allow blood to
flow TO heart,
but not away

...

Parts of the Circulatory

System:
The important parts of the
circulatory system are
1. Heart
2. Blood vessels
3. Blood

The Human Circulatory

System and How it works
1. Heart:
Heart is of the size of the fist and is built
with the muscles which is situated in the
rib cage between the lungs.

Chambers of the Heart:

It consists of four chambers of which
upper two chambers are called
as auricles and lower
two chambers as ventricles.
Auricles are divided as right and left
auricles by a thin membrane know as intra
auricular membrane. Similarly ventricles
are divided into right and left ventricles by
a thick membrane called
as intraventricular membrane. Auricles and
ventricles are separated by a
auriculoventricular membrane.
Pacemakers namely sinoauricular node
(SA node) and auriculoventricular node
(AV node) are present which stimulate the
functioning of the heart.
Right auricle receives the deoxygentaed
blood from various parts of the body.
Oxygentaed blood from lungs is brought
to left auricle by the pulmonary vein.
Deoxygentaed blood from right auricle is
pumped into right ventricle and this blood
is pumped to lungs by the pulmonary
artery. Oxygentaed blood from left auricle

is pumped to left ventricle and this blood

is supplied to all body parts.

2. Blood

Vessels:

Blood vessels are thin pipe like structures

which supply the blood to the heart and
receives impure blood from body parts.
Blood vessels are of two types namely
arteries and veins.

Arteries:
Arteries supply oxygentaed blood from the
left ventricle to all parts of the body.
These arteries divide into arterioles and
end as capillaries in the cells. Pulmonary
artery supplies deoxygenated blood from
right ventricle to lungs.

Veins:
Veins collect deoxygenated blood from all
parts of the body. They start as
capillaries, then to veinlets and to larger
veins finally. Pulmonary vein brings
oxygenated blood from lungs to left
auricle.

3. Blood:
Blood is a fluid connective tissue which is
red in colour due to the presence of
haemoglobin. Our body contains 5-6 litres
of blood. The main components of the
blood are plasma and blood cells.

Plasma:
Plasma constitutes 55% of the blood and
is light yellow coloured liquid containing
water, salts and plasma proteins.

Blood cells:
Blood cells constitute 45% of the blood.
They float in plasma and are of three
types. They are red blood cells, white
blood cells and blood platelets.

Red Blood Corpuscles:

They are also known as erythrocytes.
RBC are round in shape and disc shaped
with constriction in the middle. They
contain a pigment called as haemoglobin.
They do not contain nucleus. The life
span of RBC is 120 days.

White Blood Corpuscles:

They are also known as leukocytes. They
are of differenet shapes. WBC contains
nucleus. WBC are classified
as granulocytes and agranulocytes based
on the presence of granules in their cells.
They do not contain haemoglobin and
hence are white in colour. They attack the
microorganisms which enter our body and
protects us from diseases. Their lifespan
is 12 days.

Agranulocytes:
Lymohocytes and monocytes belongs to
agranulocytes as they do not contain
granules in their cells. Kidney shaped
nucleus is present in them. Monocytes are
called as macrophages.

Granulocytes:
Eosinophils (acidophils), basophils and
neutrophils belong to granulocytes as they
contain granules. Their nucleus is lobed.

Blood platelets:
Blood platelets are called as
thrombocytes and are small and oval in
shape. They do not contain the pigment
and are white in colour. The life span is 3
-10 days. Blood platelets are useful for
formation of the blood clot during bleeding
when wound occurs in the body.