The SINUSES are hollow spaces in the bones of your head.

Small openings connect them to the nasal

cavity. The sinuses help to regulate the temperature and humidity of the air your breathe in, as well as
to lighten the bone structure of the head and to give tone to your voice.

The NASAL CAVITY (nose) is the best entrance for outside air into your respiratory system. The hairs that
line the inside wall are part of the air-cleansing system.

Air can also enters through your ORAL CAVITY (mouth), especially if you have a mouth-breathing
habit or your nasal passages may be temporarily blocked.

The ADENOIDS are overgrown lymph tissues at the top of the throat. When your adenoids interfere
with your breathing, they are sometimes removed. The lymph system, consisting of nodes (knots of
cells) and connecting vessels, carries fluid throughout the body. This system helps your body resist
infection by filtering out foreign matter, including germs, and producing cells (lymphocytes) to fight
them.

The TONSILS are lymph nodes in the wall of your pharynx. Tonsils are not an important part of the
germ-fighting system of the body. If they become infected, they are sometimes removed.

The PHARYNX (throat) collects incoming air from your nose and passes it downward to your trachea
(windpipe).

The EPIGLOTTIS is a flap of tissue that guards the entrance to your trachea. It closes when anything is
swallowed that should go into the esophagus and stomach.

The LARYNX (voice box) contains your vocal cords. When moving air is breathed in and out, it
creates voice sounds.

The ESOPHAGUS is the passage leading from your mouth and throat to your stomach.

The TRACHEA (windpipe) is the passage leading from your pharynx to the lungs.

The RIBS are bones supporting and protecting your chest cavity. They move a small amount and help
the lungs to expand and contract.

The trachea divides into the two main BRONCHI (tubes), one for each lung. The bronchi, in turn,
subdivide further into bronchioles.

The RIGHT LUNG is divided into three LOBES, or sections.

The left lung is divided into two LOBES.

The PLEURA are the two membranes that surround each lobe of your lungs and separate the lungs
from your chest wall.

The bronchial tubes are lined with CILIA (like very small hairs) that have a wave-like motion. This
motion carries MUCUS (sticky phlegm or liquid) upward and out into the throat, where it is either
coughed up or swallowed. The mucus catches and holds much of the dust, germs, and other
unwanted matter that has invaded your lungs. Your lungs get rid of the mucus through coughing.

The DIAPHRAGM is the strong wall of muscle that separates your chest cavity from your abdominal
cavity. By moving downward, it creates suction to draw in air and expand the lungs.

The smallest section of the bronchi are called BRONCHIOLES, at the end of which are the alveoli
(plural of alveolus).

The ALVEOLI are the very small air sacs that are the destination of air that you breathe in. The
CAPILLARIES are blood vessels that are imbedded in the walls of the alveoli. Blood passes through the
capillaries, brought to them by the PULMONARY ARTERY and taken away by the PULMONARY VEIN.
While in the capillaries, the blood moves carbon dioxide into the alveoli and takes up oxygen from
the air in the alveoli.

The human respiratory system is a series of organs responsible for taking in oxygen
and expelling carbon dioxide. The primary organs of the respiratory system are
lungs, which carry out this exchange of gases as we breathe.

Red blood cells collect the oxygen from the lungs and carry it to the parts of the
body where it is needed, according to the American Lung Association. During the
process, the red blood cells collect the carbon dioxide and transport it back to the
lungs, where it leaves the body when we exhale.

Our lungs also take carbon dioxide from our blood and release it into the air when we breathe out.

The human body needs oxygen to sustain itself. A decrease in oxygen is known as hypoxia and a
complete lack of oxygen is known as anoxia, according to the National Institutes of Health. These
conditions can be fatal; after about four minutes without oxygen, brain cells begin dying, according
to NYU Langone Medical Center, which can lead to brain damage and ultimately death.

In humans, the average rate of breathing depends on age. A newborn's normal breathing rate is
about 40 times each minute and may slow to 20 to 40 times per minute when the baby is sleeping,
according to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

For adults, the average resting respiratory rate for adults is 12 to 16 breaths per minute, according to
Johns Hopkins Medicine. Physical exertion also has an effect on respiratory rate, and healthy adults
can average 45 breaths per minute during strenuous exercise.

The respiratory system works with the circulatory system to provide this oxygen and to remove the
waste products of metabolism. It also helps to regulate pH of the blood.
Respiration is the sequence of events that results in the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide
between the atmosphere and the body cells. Every 3 to 5 seconds, nerve impulses stimulate the
breathing process, or ventilation, which moves air through a series of passages into and out of the
lungs.

Process of Respiration: Physiological

For humans and other oxygen-breathing vertebrates, the process of
respiration takes place within the lungs, driven by a series of mechanics
called inhalation and exhalation. These are the biological mechanisms
that make up breathing. We breathe in to take in oxygen, and breathe
out to expel carbon dioxide! There’s more involved with the process of
respiration than just the lungs, though. The entire process uses the nasal
cavity, the mouth, the larynx, the trachea, and the bronchial tubes of the
lungs as well.

 External Respiration
To breathe in and breathe out, we use our intercostal muscles, the muscle
group that lies between our ribs. When we breathe in through the nose or
mouth, these intercostal muscles contract, our sternum moves up and out
along with our ribs, and our diaphragm flattens. The diaphragm is a sheet
of muscle that lies across the bottom of the rib cage, and it is vital for
proper respiration. When the diaphragm contracts, this allows the volume
in our thoracic cavity to expand, thus reducing pressure and enabling us
to draw air into our lungs. With the help of our diaphragm and thoracic
cavity, our body creates a literal suction.

Similarly, when we exhale, our intercostal muscles and our diaphragm

relax. This causes the volume of the thoracic cavity to decrease and the
pressure inside to increase, which expels the air in what is called an
exhalation.

 Internal Respiration
What is actually happening inside the body between the inhale and the
exhale? That’s where internal respiration comes in. Internal respiration
occurs after and during the process of external respiration, and it’s when
the gases in the air we’ve drawn into our lungs can be sorted out, the
oxygen absorbed in our blood and the carbon dioxide removed.
This happens because our heart is pumping oxygen-low blood through
the pulmonary arteries and into the lungs. At the ends of the pulmonary
arteries are small blood vessels called capillaries, which wrap like a net
around the alveoli. The alveoli is where our bronchial tubes transport the
air we inhale. They are the round, clustered, and sac-like tips of the
respiratory tree where gas exchange occurs.

Inside the alveoli, the oxygen rich air we’ve inhaled is pumped into the
red blood cells located in the surrounding capillaries, enriching the blood
with much needed oxygen. In exchange, the red blood cells expel the
carbon dioxide they’re carrying into the alveoli.

Carbon dioxide is a waste product created through the process of

metabolism, and too much of it in our blood can cause harm to our body.
It can raise the levels of acidity in your blood, which is damaging to your
heart, and even cause suffocation! When you hold your breath by inhaling
and then not immediately exhaling, the reason you begin to feel
light-headed is not actually due to the sudden lack of oxygen intake, but
the excess of carbon dioxide built up in your body. Of course, both are
just as important, so make sure to practice proper breathing techniques!

Once the air in your alveoli are enriched with carbon dioxide from the
newly oxygen riched red blood cells, this air travels back up the bronchial
tubes and out the nose or mouth, in a process called exhalation. At the
same time, the pulmonary veins transport the oxygen rich blood back to
the heart to be distributed throughout the body.

The lung–chest system

The forces that normally cause changes in volume of the chest and lungs
stem not only from muscle contraction but from the elastic properties of
both the lung and the chest. A lung is similar to a balloon in that it resists
stretch, tending to collapse almost totally unless held inflated by a
pressure difference between its inside and outside. This tendency of the
lung to collapse or pull away from the chest can be measured by
carefully placing a blunt needle between the outside of the lung and the
inside of the chest wall, thereby allowing the lung to separate from the
chest at this particular spot. The pressure measured in the small pleural
space so created is substantially below atmospheric pressure at a time
when the pressure within the lung itself equals atmospheric pressure. This
negative (below-atmospheric) pressure is a measure, therefore, of the
force required to keep the lung distended. The force increases (pleural
pressure becomes more negative) as the lung is stretched and its volume
increases during inspiration. The force also increases in proportion to the
rapidity with which air is drawn into the lung and decreases in proportion
to the force with which air is expelled from the lungs. In summary, the

pleural pressure reflects primarily two forces: (1) the force required to
keep the lung inflated against its elastic recoil and (2) the force required
to cause airflow in and out of the lung. Because the pleural pressure is
below atmospheric pressure, air is sucked into the chest and the lung
collapses (pneumothorax) when the chest wall is perforated, as by a
wound or by a surgical incision.
 When you pull down on the tab of the large balloon, simulating contraction of the diaphragm, the
balloons, representing the lungs, should fill with air and expand. This movement simulates a single
inspiration. On the other hand, when you release the large balloon (or push the large balloon into
the bottle), simulating a relaxation of the diaphragm, the balloons, representing the lungs, should
empty out and contract. This movement simulates a single expiration.

So how does the movement of the diaphragm move air into and out of the lungs? Well, when the
diaphragm contacts during inspiration (simulated in the model by pulling down on the tab of the
large balloon) the volume of the chest cavity (the closed space inside of the bottle) increases since
the balloon in now bending “outward”. As the chest cavity is a closed space, and in sealed off
completely with the bottle cap and the balloon on either end, no air can move into the chest cavity
to fill this sudden increase in volume. Therefore, the number of “air molecules” inside the chest cavity
is fixed. Yet, now that the volume of the chest cavity has increased the concentration of gas, or
number of “air molecules” per unit volume, has decreased. This therefore causes a decrease in the
pressure inside the chest cavity (the closed space inside the bottle). The decrease in pressure inside
the chest cavity (the closed space inside the bottle) then causes a difference in pressure between
the air inside the lungs (balloons) and in the chest cavity (the closed space inside the bottle). This
pressure difference causes the lungs (balloons) to expand along with the chest cavity, again causing
a local increase in volume inside the lungs (balloons) which results in a local decrease in pressure
inside the lungs (balloons). Yet, given that the lung (balloons) are connected to the environment
through the pharynx/larynx (tubing), and that the air outside the body (outside the bottle) is at a
higher pressure than the air inside the lungs (balloons), air can rush into the lungs (balloons) to fill the
sudden increase in volume.

So overall, the lungs are “connected” [technically coupled] to the chest cavity. As the chest cavity
expands upon contraction of the diaphragm the lungs expand causing a pressure difference
between the inside of the lungs and outside air which draws air into the lungs during inspiration.

On the other hand, when the diaphragm relaxes during expiration (simulated in the model by
releasing the large balloon or pushing the large balloon into the bottle) the volume of the chest
cavity will decrease. This will cause a reversal of the situation found during inspiration, in which the
pressure inside the chest cavity (the closed space inside the bottle) will increase, causing a
decreased in the volume inside the lung (balloons) which will cause an increase in the pressure inside
the lungs (balloons), which will then cause a pressure difference between the air in the lungs
(balloons) and the air outside the body (outside the bottle) which will force the air out of the lungs
(balloons).
So overall as the chest cavity contracts upon relaxation of the diaphragm the lungs contract causing
a pressure difference between the inside of the lungs and outside air which forces air out of the lungs
during expiration.

In general, the movement of air in and out of the lungs is controlled by pressure differences between
the air inside and outside the lungs, which are generated by the contracture of various muscles in the
thorax and the motion of the chest cavity.