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Gas exchange occurs at two sites in the body: in the lungs, where oxygen is picked up and carbon dioxide is released at the respiratory membrane, and at the tissues, where oxygen is released and carbon dioxide is picked up.
Gas exchange occurs in the lungs between alveolar air and the blood of the pulmonary capillaries. For effective gas exchange to occur, alveoli must be ventilated and perfused. Ventilation (V) refers to the flow of air into and out of the alveoli, while perfusion (Q) refers to the flow of blood to alveolar capillaries.
Gas exchange in the lungs takes place in alveoli, which are tiny air sacs surrounded by networks of capillaries. The pulmonary artery carries deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs, where it travels through pulmonary capillaries, picking up oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide.
Gas exchange takes place in the millions of alveoli in the lungs and the capillaries that envelop them. As shown below, inhaled oxygen moves from the alveoli to the blood in the capillaries, and carbon dioxide moves from the blood in the capillaries to the air in the alveoli.
Gas exchange is a process that involves the swapping of gases that occurs at exchange surfaces such as the alveoli found within your lungs. Gas exchange allows oxygen to travel into your cells...
In order to understand the mechanisms of gas exchange in the lung, it is important to understand the underlying principles of gases and their behaviour. In addition to Boyle’s law, several other gas laws help to describe the behaviour of gases. Gas molecules exert force on the surfaces with which they are in contact; this force is called pressure.
Two important aspects of gas exchange in the lung are ventilation and perfusion. Ventilation is the movement of air into and out of the lungs, and perfusion is the flow of blood in the pulmonary capillaries.