ow does the heart work?

The heart muscle contracts in two stages to squeeze blood out of the heart. This is known as systole.

In the first stage, the upper chambers (atria) contract at the same time, pushing blood down into the lower chambers (ventricles). Blood is pumped from the right atrium down into the right ventricle and from the left atrium down into the left ventricle. In the second stage, the lower chambers contract to push this blood out of the heart to either the body via your main artery (aorta) or to the lungs to pick up oxygen.

The heart then relaxes known as diastole. Blood fills up the heart again, and the whole process, which takes a fraction of a second, is repeated. A muscular wall called the septum separates the right and left sides of the heart. Each of the chambers has valves. The valves have different names:

the tricuspid valve is at the exit of the right atrium the mitral valve is for the left atrium the pulmonary valve is at the exit of the right ventricle the aortic valve is at the exit of the left ventricle.

Their purpose is to allow blood to move forwards through the heart and to prevent it flowing backwards into the previous chamber.

A muscular wall called the septum separates the right and left sides of the heart. Each of the chambers has valves. The valves have different names:

the tricuspid valve is at the exit of the right atrium the mitral valve is for the left atrium the pulmonary valve is at the exit of the right ventricle the aortic valve is at the exit of the left ventricle.

Their purpose is to allow blood to move forwards through the heart and to prevent it flowing backwards into the previous chamber.

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culatory System Glossary of Terms

Circulatory System A term used to describe the bodys circulation of blood. The circulatory system is composed of the heart, the arteries, the veins and the lungs. A simplified description of the circulation of blood is as follows: All of the bodys organs require oxygen and nutrients which are delivered by the blood. The bodys blood is circulated pumped by the heart and the blood is transported in the arteries and veins of the body. The lungs add Oxygen remove the CO2 from the blood. The circulatory system is a continuous cycle of blood being returned to the h the CO2 being removed, Oxygen added and then being pumped out again. The circulation of blood is as follo The blood, after being "used" by the bodys organs, returns to the right atrium of the heart via the veins of the body. As the "used" blood enters the right atrium, it flows and is pumped into the right ventricle. The right ventricle then pumps the blood to the lungs, where the lungs remove the CO2 and add Oxygen. The newly oxygenated blood then flows to the left atrium, where it is then pumped to the left ventricle. The left ventricle the real workhorse of the heart, pumping newly oxygenated blood back out to the bodys organs, which then extract the oxygen for their function and discard the CO2 which becomes a by-product of metabolism. The "u blood is