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Help with question on arteries and veins (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Mattlimey
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Carrotsticks
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Because you've got the pulmonary arteries and veins, which do the opposite.
The definition of an artery: a vessel that carries blood away from the heart.
The definition of a vein: a vessel that carries blood away from capillaries towards the heart.
Blood is oxygenated in the lungs (at the aveolar capillaries). The blood then enters pulmonary veins and returns to the heart. Hence these veins carry oxygenated blood. The blood enters the left side of the heart and is pumped into the aorta (an artery). Hence this artery and subsequent systemic arteries carry oxygenated blood. The blood travels around the body to capillaries in various organs. The tissues are thus oxygenated, and deoxygenated blood leaves the capillaries in systemic veins. Hence these veins carry deoxygenated blood. The blood returns to the right side of the heart and is pumped into the pulmonary artery. Hence this artery carries deoxygenated blood. The blood finishes it's trip at the aveolar capillaries where it is reoxygenated.
It's a series circuit. Easy.