Circulatory system - Blood vessels Flashcards
What are blood vessels designed for?
Their function.
What are the 3 different types of blood vessel?
- Arteries
- Capillaries
- Veins
What do the arteries do?
They carry the blood away from the heart.
What do the capillaries do?
They are involved in the exchange of materials at the tissues.
What do the veins do?
They carry blood to the heart.
How are the artery walls affected by the heart?
The heart pumps the blood out at high pressure, making the walls strong and elastic
What is a lumen?
The hole down the middle of blood vessels.
What are the artery walls compared to the size of the lumen?
Thick
How are the artery walls strong?
They contain thick layers of muscle to make them strong.
How are the artery walls elastic?
They contain elastic fibres to allow them to stretch and spring back.
What do arteries branch into?
Capillaries.
What size are capillaries?
Very tiny (too small to see).
How do capillaries exchange substances?
They carry blood really close to every cell in the body,
How do substances diffuse in and out of the capillaries?
They have permeable walls.
What do capillaries supply and take away?
They supply food and oxygen and take away waste like CO2.
