Respiratory Lab

Welcome to the Respiratory Lab!

Your respiratory system is vital to your life. If something interferes with your ability to breathe, you could die after only a few minutes. In the Respiratory Lab, you will learn about oxygen and carbon dioxide. Oxygen is 21% of the air that you breathe and is responsible for keeping you alive. You will learn how much oxygen is in a healthy person's blood and how various things can change this level. You'll explore how your circulatory system helps your lungs to give your body the oxygen it needs to live and to get rid of the waste gas, carbon dioxide.

Tar and carbon monoxide from tobacco products harm the body's ability to exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen. You'll do an experiment with an oximeter that shows how tobacco products interfere with gas exchange and what happens to oxygen levels in your blood when you smoke. You can then decide for yourself if tobacco use is worth the damage it causes to your respiratory system.

What is your respiratory system?

Your respiratory system is the body parts that work together to get the oxygen you need for energy and growth. There are three parts to respiration. External respiration is the movement of air into and out of the body. It also is the way your body gets rid of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a waste gas that your body produces when combining food and oxygen for growth and energy.

Oxygen +Fuel (food) = Energy + Carbon dioxide + Water.

When you try to think of what your respiratory system looks like, remember your favorite tree with its trunk and branches. Now turn the tree upside down. This is what your respiratory system looks like. The trunk and branches are hollow tubes. The tubes have tin y hair-like things called cilia growing out of the trunk. The cilia sway back and forth as you breathe in and out. They work with mucus to remove foreign particles and bacteria. Foreign particles stick to the mucus. The cilia are constantly moving in a sweeping motion carrying mucus up to your throat. This action carries foreign particles and bacteria up and out of the respiratory system when you cough or swallow.Internal respiration is the movement of gases into and out of the cells of your body. Cellular respiration is the utilization of oxygen to produce energy. The process produces carbon dioxide which must be removed from your body.

During the breathing process, air moves into your windpipe, which is also called the trachea. Your trachea branches off into two smaller tubes called bronchi. The two bronchi lead to your two lungs. At this point, the bronchi divide into smaller tubes called bronchioles. You can think of these smaller tubes as tree branches coming off the trunk of the tree. At the end of each bronchiole are tiny air sacs called alveoli. Alveoli look like grapes in a bunch, but they are much, much smaller. There are over 300 million alveoli in each lung! A single air sac is called an alveolus. Each alveolus is only about 100 microns wide, just a little wider than a hair! An alveolus is surrounded by tiny blood vessels called capillaries. The walls of an alveolus are only one cell thick, which is very thin. Because the walls of your alveoli are so thin, it is very easy for oxygen to pass from them into your blood. At the same time, carbon dioxide passes from your blood into the alveoli. This passing of oxygen and carbon dioxide is called gas exchange. The oxygen is transported, by the blood, all over your body. Carbon dioxide is a waste product of your body's processes. Your body gets rid of this waste product eventually. Every single time you breathe in and out, this gas exchange happens! Without it, you would not be able to live very long because your body would not get the oxygen it needs to survive.

Each breath you take is done without you having to think about it. Just imagine how exhausted you would get if you had to remind yourself to breathe 18 times a minute all day long and all night long! Your respiratory system is amazing, and it works for you around the clock.

Tobacco's Interference with Respiration

The chemicals found in tobacco smoke affect breathing, both immediately and long term. Smokers have a chronic cough from having too much mucus and damaged cilia. They also have more upper respiratory infections and colds, and when they do get sick with these things, it takes them longer to get well. Additionally, chemicals found in tobacco and tobacco smoke, such as tar, carbon monoxide, oxides, and hydrogen cyanide, damage the respiratory system, interfering with gas exchange.

Oxides

Cigarette smoke contains oxides of nitrogen in high levels. Scientists have shown that these gases cause lung damage in experimental animals. This is like the damage noted in smokers. This process may be responsible for damaging the lungs in a way that leads to emphysema.

Hydrogen Cyanide

Hydrogen cyanide is a chemical found in cigarette smoke that has a direct and harmful effect on the cilia. Cilia of the bronchi are responsible for clearing mucus, bacteria, and other particles out of the airway. When cilia no longer do their job of cleaning, toxic chemicals from tobacco products can collect in the lungs. This increases the likelihood of developing lung diseases such as cancer and emphysema.

Breathing requires inspiration (breathing in) and expiration (breathing out). Inspiration is how the body gets oxygen into it. Expiration is how your body gets rid of its carbon dioxide.

There are certain lung diseases that make respiration very difficult. These disorders force people to use their chest muscles to get carbon dioxide out. When air is brought into your lungs by inspiration, that air is warmed and moistened by the lining of your respiratory tract. That is why your lungs contain water along with oxygen and carbon dioxide. This is why your breath is moist.