how is oxygen used in the body crash course

How does the human body get the oxygen it needs?

In order to survive, all of your cells need oxygen. The complx process of getting your body the oxygen it needs is a collaborative effort among your gut, brain, bones, lungs, blood, and heart. As you unconsciously breathe in, the air around you enters through your nose and mouth, then begins on its roller coaster ride.

What happens to the oxygen in the lungs?

Once your lungs process the oxygen, the oxygen-rich cells are carried to the cardiovascular network, which is a massive collection of blood vessels throughout your body. The network is so lengthy, that if stretched out, it would be able to wrap around the Earth several times.

What is the role of oxygen in aerobic respiration?

Aerobic cells and organisms need oxygen in order to perform aerobic cellular respiration. Oxygen is the end electron acceptor in the electron transport chain, and is necessary to maintain the flow of electrons and thus create the hydrogen ion gradient needed for ATP synthase to function.

How did life on Earth get oxygen?

From the very beginning, the earliest, simplest forms of life, like bacteria, extracted oxygen they needed right from the water through their membranes, and they did it through simple diffusion, when a material automatically flows from where it is concentrated, to where it is less concentrated so it balances out.

How oxygen is used in the body?

What does oxygen do? Oxygen's primary function is to provide our body with energy. It all happens within the cells, in little organelles called mitochondria which are real energy generators: they use oxygen to transform nutriments from the digestive process into energy that can be used directly by the cell (ATP).

How do lungs work in Crash Course?

7:399:21Respiratory System, Part 1: Crash Course A&P #31 - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAt any given second both of your lungs contain about 700. Million alveoli which together provide anMoreAt any given second both of your lungs contain about 700. Million alveoli which together provide an amazing 75 square meters of moist membrane surface area so the principles that make respiration.

How does oxygen flow through the body step by step?

Blood enters the two chambers on the right side of the heart. From there, it's carried to the lungs to gather oxygen. Oxygen-rich blood travels from the lungs into the left side of the heart. The heart pumps it into blood vessels that deliver it to the rest of the body.

How do lungs work for dummies?

1:473:21How do lungs work? - Emma Bryce - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipFull of red blood cells containing special proteins called hemoglobin. The air you've breathed inMoreFull of red blood cells containing special proteins called hemoglobin. The air you've breathed in fills these sacks causing the lungs to inflate.

Why do we need oxygen?

Oxygen helps organisms grow, reproduce, and turn food into energy. Humans get the oxygen they need by breathing through their nose and mouth into their lungs. Oxygen gives our cells the ability to break down food in order to get the energy we need to survive.

Where is oxygen produced and how important is it to the human body?

Our lungs supply oxygen from the outside air to the cells via the blood and cardiovascular system to enable us to obtain energy. As we breathe in, oxygen enters the lungs and diffuses into the blood. It is taken to the heart and pumped into the cells.

What are the 7 steps of blood flow?

Blood flows through the heart in the following order: 1) body –> 2) inferior/superior vena cava –> 3) right atrium –> 4) tricuspid valve –> 5) right ventricle –> 6) pulmonary arteries –> 7) lungs –> 8) pulmonary veins –> 9) left atrium –> 10) mitral or bicuspid valve –> 11) left ventricle –> 12) aortic valve –> 13) ...

What is the network of blood vessels that carry oxygen?

Once your lungs process the oxygen, the oxygen-rich cells are carried to the cardiovascular network, which is a massive collection of blood vessels throughout your body. The network is so lengthy, that if stretched out, it would be able to wrap around the Earth several times. Lastly, thanks to your body's powerhouse known as your heart, ...

How many breaths do you take in a day?

Despite taking an average of 17,000 breaths each day, breathing is a process we all do without much thought or effort. However, the way your body processes the oxygen you need for survival is much more complex than you may imagine. The TEDEd video below provides a detailed explanation of the journey oxygen endures as it travels through your entire ...

Why do muscles need oxygen?

Why Muscles Need Oxygen to Function. All cells, including muscle cells, require oxygen to function. Energy inside cells comes in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a molecule that carries energy within cells. Most of our ATP is created through the breakdown of metabolic substrates (food) using oxygen, resulting in CO 2 and water.

Where does oxygen get pumped?

Now tied to hemoglobin, oxygen is pumped by the heart through the vascular system to the rest of the body. The oxygen is then released into the cells where it is used in the breakdown ...

What is the process of burning carbs without oxygen?

Anaerobic Metabolism. Muscles can produce energy without oxygen in a process called anaerobic metabolism. The only fuel that can be burned anaerobically is carbohydrate, being converted into a substance called pyruvate through glycolysis and then into blood lactate via anaerobic metabolism.

Why do we breathe more when we exercise?

We breathe more when we exercise to help remove the large amount of carbon dioxide (CO 2) that is produced by the working muscles. As carbon dioxide levels increase, hydrogen ions are also produced, which reduces the pH of the system, which is very tightly regulated through chemoreceptors in the brain and carotid arteries.

Does anaerobic metabolism require oxygen?

One other comment about anaerobic metabolism: although this form of metabolism kicks in at higher intensities leading to energy being created without the need for oxygen (burning carbohydrate instead), there are still numerous processes going on in the body that cause a continued increase in demand for and use of oxygen.

Does the EPOC stage require more oxygen?

However, it is important to note that the heavier breathing required by the body in the EPOC stage is not delivering more oxygen – but instead eliminating excess carbon dioxide in order to maintain a healthy pH balance.

Does oxygen transport increase VO2max?

Better oxygen transport leads to higher VO2max. Muscle physiology means how many muscle fibers you have, how big they are, how many mitochondria they contain, and how strongly you can activate them during exercise. More aerobic, oxygen-guzzling muscles equals a higher VO 2 max.

What is the Role of Oxygen in Cellular Respiration?

Oxygen plays an essential role in energy production in the cell through a system called the electron transport chain (ETC), which is an important component of cellular respiration. Cellular respiration is the process that all cells use to make energy.

What is the Function of Oxygen in Cellular Respiration?

What does oxygen do in cellular respiration? To understand the role of oxygen in cellular respiration, first we will review the steps of aerobic cellular respiration. There are three main steps of cellular respiration:

Where is Oxygen Used in Cellular Respiration?

Oxygen is used as the final electron acceptor in the electron transport chain in eukaryotic cells. This process occurs in the inner mitochondrial membrane and matrix in eukaryotic cells, like in humans. The mitochondria is an organelle with the main purpose of creating energy for the cell.

A Model of Aerobic Cellular Respiration

In this activity, students will be visualizing aerobic cellular respiration by creating an animation that shows the role of oxygen. To do this, students can create a collection of Powerpoint slides that shows each step or they can use animation software.

How many oxygen molecules do you get in your lungs?

Every time you take a deep breath, you bring in about a hundred quintillion oxygen molecules into your lungs all at once. They're on a bulk flow bus ride, and once those oxygen molecules filter down into the cells in your lungs, they're suddenly very close to the blood they're trying to reach.

Why is the respiratory system the way it is?

That's why your respiratory system is the way it is. It's set up to take full advantage of both bulk flow and simple diffusion. The bulk flow part of things is handled by some of your systems biggest and most obvious moving parts , starting with your lungs, which basically operate like a pump or a bellows.

What are the two physiological zones of the respiratory system?

Now your respiratory system contains a lot of parts besides your lungs, some prominently displayed on your face, others hidden deep within your chest, and functionally, all of these organs fall into one of two physiological zones. The upper parts that funnel the air in, make up what's known as the conducting zone.

What is the function of the nose?

Your nose is supported by bone and cartilage and the bristly hairs and mucus inside it that help filter out dust and other particles, but it along with your sinuses performs another important function , it warms and moistens incoming air, so it doesn't dry out those sensitive lung cells that must remain wet.

When the race commences and the athlete quickly accelerates to attain their desired race pace, what happens?

When the race commences and the athlete quickly accelerates to attain their desired race pace, the energy turnover in the contracting muscle cells, ie the rate at which the high-energy compound ATP is broken down to produce energy and continually re-synthesised, increases abruptly.

Why is VO2 kinetics slow?

Because VO2 kinetics is relatively slow, at least when compared to the instantaneous increase in muscle energy turnover, other energy-producing metabolic pathways must be called on to meet the demand. The extent of this demand is contained within the concept of the ‘O2 deficit’ (see figure 1). The O2 deficit simply represents ...

What stimulus increases VO2 kinetics?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the most potent stimulus to enhancing VO2 kinetics is endurance exercise training, which will both enhance O2 supply to muscle and improve the capacity of the muscle to utilise the O2 supplied. As an example of the potency of endurance exercise training in enhancing VO2 kinetics, we recently reported that six weeks ...

How long does it take to reach a steady state in VO2?

An exponential process is considered to be essentially complete when four time constants have elapsed; thus, for VO2 kinetics, a time constant of 40 seconds (which is characteristic of healthy but untrained subjects) means that a VO2 ‘steady-state’ would be reached within approximately 160 seconds.

Is VO2 kinetics sensitive to endurance?

However, while these data suggest that VO2 kinetics might be most sensitive to high-volume endurance training, it should be remembered that genetics play a major role in the determination of many aspects of the physiology of champion endurance athletes. ‘Warm-up’ exercise. In already highly trained endurance athletes, ...

Does VO2 reduce muscular fatigue?

Indeed, in the patient, the extremely slow VO2 kinetics will lead to rapid muscular fatigue even during mild exercise tasks, thus preventing them from comfortably carrying out the activities of daily living. In the endurance athlete, earlier attainment of the required VO2 for the race will not only reduce the accumulation ...

Who has the fastest VO2 kinetics?

However, it has been reported that runners who specialise in longer distances have faster VO2 kinetics than those who specialise in middle distance events (3). Paula Radcliffe, the world record holder for the women’s marathon has the fastest reported VO2 kinetics, with a time constant of just 8-9 seconds!