Biology Summary Sheet:

Breathing
Ventilation consists of breathing in and out.
Breathing in is inspiration and breathing out is expiration.
It is controlled by the movements of the diaphragm, intercostal muscles and ribcage.

Inspiration
-Intercostal and diaphragm muscles contract
-Causes ribcage to move upwards and outwards and the diaphragm to flatten Tidal volume: Volume of air in
-Increased volume in the thorax. each breath - usually about 0.4
-As volume increases pressure decreases (below atmospheric pressure) dm3
-Causes air to rush into the lungs
-Inspiration is an active process -requires energy. Vital capacity: Maximum volume
of air that can be breathed in or
out.
Expiration Breathing rate: How many
-Intercostal and diaphragm muscles relax breaths are taken in a minute.
-Ribcage moves downwards and inwards and the diaphragm curves
-Decreased volume in the thorax Oxygen uptake: the rate at
-Pressure increases (above atmospheric pressure) which a person uses up oxygen.
-Air is forced out of the lungs
-Passive process - no energy required.

Spirometers : Machine which gives readings of tidal volume, vital capacity breathing rate and oxygen uptake.
-Has an oxygen filled chamber and a hinged lid
-Person breathes through a tube connected to oxygen chamber
-As breathes in and out the lid moves up and down
-A pen attached to the moving lid tracks the movements on a rotating drum creating a spirometer trace.
-Soda lime is in the tube to absorb carbon dioxide.

[The total volume of gas decreases over time and oxygen gets used up in the body and as CO2 cannot pass into
the chamber to make up for lost oxygen]

The diagram on the left shows what bits

of a spirometer trace represent what.
Most spirometer traces show an overall
downward slope, an overall uptake of
oxygen.
Oxygen consumption is the decrease in
the volume of oxygen in the chamber
and it can be read from the graph by
taking the average slope of the trace.

At the bottom of the graph there will be an area where the

line does not enter, where there is always oxygen in the
lungs. This is residual air which cannot be expelled.