how is oxygen carried from the lungs to the body cells?
how is oxygen carried from the lungs to the body cells?
Oxygen is transported in the body through the red blood cells. Although other substances in the body such as water and plasma can also carry oxygen, hemoglobin is unique in its oxygen carrying capacity because it increases by more than 50 times the quantity of oxygen it can carry. Oxygen is transported from the lungs to the heart and then it is pumped to the rest of the body by the heart.
In the lungs, the hemoglobin molecules loosely bind with oxygen. Each molecule of hemoglobin contains four iron atoms, and each iron atom can bind with one molecule of oxygen, allowing each hemoglobin molecule to carry four molecules of oxygen. In the capillaries, where there is little oxygen, the hemoglobin readily sheds the oxygen it is carrying and allows it to be absorbed by the body's cells.
Oxygen is transported in the body through the red blood cells. Although other substances in the body such as water and plasma can also carry oxygen, hemoglobin is unique in its oxygen carrying capacity because it increases by more than 50 times the quantity of oxygen it can carry. Oxygen is transported from the lungs to the heart and then it is pumped to the rest of the body by the heart.
In the lungs, the hemoglobin molecules loosely bind with oxygen. Each molecule of hemoglobin contains four iron atoms, and each iron atom can bind with one molecule of oxygen, allowing each hemoglobin molecule to carry four molecules of oxygen. In the capillaries, where there is little oxygen, the hemoglobin readily sheds the oxygen it is carrying and allows it to be absorbed by the body's cells.
