CALA: Frequently asked questions about the respiratory system

What is the human respiratory system? THE human respiratory system is a system of organs responsible for inhaling oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide in humans. The important respiratory organs in living beings include — lungs, gills, trachea, and skin.

What are the important respiratory system parts in humans?

The important human respiratory system parts include — nose, larynx, pharynx, trachea, bronchi and lungs.

What is the respiratory tract made up of? The respiratory tract is made up of nostrils, nasal chamber, larynx, pharynx, epiglottis, trachea, bronchioles, bronchi, alveoli, and lungs.

What are the main functions of the respiratory system?

The important functions of the respiratory system include inhalation and exhalation of gases, exchange of gases between bloodstream and lungs, the gaseous exchange between bloodstream and body tissues, olfaction and vibration of vocal cords.

What are the different types of respiration in humans?

The different types of respiration in humans include internal respiration, external respiration and cellular respiration.

Internal respiration includes the exchange of gases between blood and cells. External respiration is the breathing process, whereas cellular respiration is the metabolic reactions taking place in the cells to produce energy.

What are the different stages of aerobic respiration?

Aerobic respiration is the process of breaking down glucose to produce energy. It occurs in the following different stages — glycolysis, pyruvate oxidation, citric acid cycle or Krebs cycle, and electron transport system.

Why do the cells need oxygen?

Our body cells require oxygen to release energy. The oxygen inhaled during respiration is used to break down the food to release energy.

What is the main difference between breathing and respiration in humans?

Breathing is the physical process of inhaling oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide in and out of our lungs.

On the contrary, respiration is the chemical process where oxygen is utilised to break down glucose to generate energy to carry out different cellular processes.

Air enters through the nose (and sometimes the mouth), moves through the nasal cavity, the pharynx, the larynx, enters the trachea, moves through the bronchi and bronchioles till the alveoli.

The pathway of air in the respiratory system starts with the external organs of the nose and mouth.

1 Nose: Air is inhaled through the nostrils (and sometimes through the mouth) where it is filtered by the hairs and cilia to remove dust particles and moistened.

The nasal cavity also moderates temperature of the inhaled air.

2 Pharynx: This is a common passage for food, water, and air. It leads from both the nose and the mouth and leads to both the trachea (windpipe) and the oesophagus (foodpipe).

3 Larynx: This is the voice box situated just over the trachea and has a flap called the epiglottis which closes during swallowing to prevent food from entering the trachea and opens during breathing.

4 Trachea: Air now enters the windpipe which

the is situated behind the sternum (breastbone) and between the two lungs.

5 Bronchus: From the trachea, two bronchi (one bronchus for each lung) enter the lungs and divide and subdivide into secondary and tertiary bronchi, getting narrower as they proceed into the lung.

6 Bronchioles: The tertiary bronchi branch into fine tubules called bronchioles, the last passageways for air.

7 Alveoli: Air ends its pathway in the alveoli (sing. alveolus) which are tiny sacs with very fine singe-celled walls.

These alveoli are surrounded by capillaries that connect the pulmonary arteries and veins and that enable transfer of oxygen and carbon dioxide.