The cardiovascular system delivers oxygen and nutrients and removes waste, while the respiratory system takes oxygen in and breathes carbon dioxide out. This unit covers the heart and circulation, the three types of blood vessel, breathing and gas exchange, and how both systems respond to exercise in the short and long term.
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The heart and circulation
The heart is a muscular pump with four chambers: two atria on top and two ventricles below.
The right side pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs; the left side pumps oxygenated blood to the body.
Heart rate is the number of beats per minute; stroke volume is the blood pumped per beat.
Cardiac output equals heart rate multiplied by stroke volume and rises during exercise.
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1. Which feature of the alveoli makes them well suited to gas exchange?
2. What is the correct definition of cardiac output?
3. Which blood vessels carry blood back towards the heart and contain valves?
4. Which of these is a long-term effect of regular aerobic training on the cardiovascular system?
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