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MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL PROCESSES IN BREATHING


Ani
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MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL


PROCESSES IN BREATHING


 


What do we know about the structure of the lungs and the mechanics of breathing? The lungs have two wings, of which the left one has two sections and the right one has three. Below the epiglottis, the trachea divides into two tubes called bronchi. The bronchi spread out into many branches whose endings contain small balloon-like structures called alveoli. There are between 1,700 and 1,800 million alveoli in the lungs. Their purpose is to increase the surface area through which air enters into the blood. Indeed, since the lung has such a small area, these alveoli help it to expand to an area of 150 to 200 square meters.


 


The lungs and heart are situated in the chest, which is divided from the abdomen by a muscle called the diaphragm. The lung is covered with double tissues called pleura, one of which covers the inside surface of the chest and the other the lungs. Between these two pleura there is liquid which prevents friction between the lung tissue and the surrounding tissue during inhalation and exhalation. The diaphragm expands forward and slightly upward on inhalation, and contracts downward on exhalation, which then liberates the space for further expansion of the lung during the next breath.


 


It is known that air is a mixture of 20% oxygen, 79% nitrogen, a small amount of water vapor, carbon dioxide, argon, a few microbes and dust, etc. Surrounding each alveolus is a mesh of capillaries, which are the tiniest branches of the arteries. Because the alveoli and the capillaries have very thin walls, they allow an exchange of gases between the inhaled air and the blood in the capillaries. We know from physiology that the red blood cells absorb the oxygen and nitrogen from the air, thus oxygenating the hemoglobin. The blood which comes into the lungs through the tissues of the capillaries and the alveoli, then throws off in the space of the lungs carbon dioxide and water vapor. There are continuously two processes of destruction and construction in the organism. The carbon dioxide and water vapor are the end products of destruction.


 


When the blood of the lungs goes to the cells of the body, it brings its oxygenated hemoglobin to the tissues. There the red blood cells release the oxygen so the tissues become oxidized. This oxidation produces burning which destroys the organic substance in the tissue. In this process of destruction, heat and different kinds of energies necessary for the organism are released. We have two processes of breathing. First the oxygen is absorbed into the organism through the cells, and then it is released and absorbed by the tissues.


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