Exam 22: Gas Exchange

When bar-headed geese fly at very high altitudes (possibly over Mount Everest!), they breathe very thin air where the partial pressure of oxygen is very low compared to that at sea level. Which of the following adaptions would help the geese efficiently exchange gases when flying at high altitudes?

Pulmonary fibrosis is a lung disease that is characterized by damage and scarring of lung tissue. This results in the lungs becoming stiff and inelastic. What function is most likely to be impaired in someone with pulmonary fibrosis?

Physicians routinely give their patients pulmonary function tests in order to measure characteristics of lung function. The most common of these tests, spirometry, measures both the volume and the speed of air entering and exiting the lungs. In this test, a person first breathes normally while breathing into a spirometer, a machine that measures air volume and air speed. Then the person takes the deepest breath possible and exhales as hard as possible for 6 seconds into the spirometer. The resulting data are plotted on a graph of volume (y axis) versus time (x axis). Spirometry is useful not only for assessing lung function in healthy patients but also for characterizing patients with lung conditions such as pulmonary fibrosis, asthma, or emphysema. A sample graph for a healthy adult male is shown below. Normal breathing occurs between points A and B, a maximal inhalation occurs at point C, and a maximal exhalation occurs at point D. Normal breathing resumes between points E and F. -For this data set, what is the vital capacity?

When bar-headed geese fly at very high altitudes (possibly over Mount Everest!), they breathe very thin air where the partial pressure of oxygen is very low compared to that at sea level. They are able to do this because they have a modified version of the hemoglobin protein. To which of the following is their hemoglobin protein most likely similar in terms of its ability to bind oxygen?

Which respiratory structure likely has the largest surface area for gas exchange to occur?

In the countercurrent exchange system of fish gills,

Which of the following contributes to gas exchange in the human fetus?

During gas exchange, body cells

Many amphibians (including many frogs, toads, and salamanders) spend the early part of their lives in water but live on land as adults. The adults of many species return to water to breed and lay their eggs. Frogs have small lungs and supplement their oxygen intake by breathing through the skin. Although large frogs have more total surface area than smaller frogs, the larger frogs have a lower surface area/volume ratio (less skin surface relative to their total body volume). To keep their respiratory surfaces moist, frogs are generally found in wet or very moist locations. In an experiment designed to investigate oxygen consumption in relation to body size, frogs from five different species were weighed and placed in a respirometer (a machine that measures oxygen consumption) for 1 hour. The table shows the results of the experiment. Species Average Weight (grams) Oxygen Consumption in One Hour (cc) A 7 0.35 B 11 0.55 C 15 0.75 D 21 1.05 E 37 1.85 -From the data in the table, it is reasonable to conclude that

When you exhale, you

The flow rate of a gas through a tube is proportional to the diameter of the tube. Through which structure in the human respiratory system does air flow the fastest?

The organization of blood and water flow in a fish's gills increases the fish's ability to

The average vital capacity for college-aged males is

What prompts a newborn baby to start to breathe?

Which option correctly lists the direction carbon dioxide travels as it leaves the body of a human?

The reason animals need a continuous supply of oxygen is to

Which of the following statements about fish gills is true?

-At which point(s) in the figure is blood oxygen-rich?

What is the name of the muscle that helps move air in and out of the lungs?

The ________ is a passageway shared by both food and air.