Question

capillaries and aveoli both have similar walls. How is the structure of each related to a common function?

Answer 1

The alveoli are surrounded by tiny blood vessels, called capillaries. The alveoli and capillaries both have very thin walls, which allow the oxygen to pass from the alveoli to the blood. The capillaries then connect to larger blood vessels, called veins, which bring the oxygenated blood from the lungs to the heart.

Alveoli are tiny air sacs in your lungs that take up the oxygen you breathe in and keep your body going.Although tiny, the alveoli are the center of your respiratory system’s gas exchange. The alveoli pick up the incoming energy (oxygen) you breathe in and release the outgoing waste product (carbon dioxide) you exhale.As it moves through capillaries in the alveoli walls, your blood takes the oxygen from the alveoli and gives off carbon dioxide to the alveoli.These tiny alveoli structures taken all together form a very large surface area to do the work of your breathing, both when you’re at rest and when you are exercising.

To push the air in and out, your diaphragm and other muscles help create pressure inside your chest. When you breathe in, your muscles create a negative pressure less than the atmospheric pressure that helps suck air in. When you breathe out, the lungs recoil and return to their normal size.