Oxygen-poor blood is called deoxygenated blood.
Deoxygenated blood is blood that has a lower oxygen content compared to oxygenated blood. It's the blood that has circulated through the body, delivering oxygen to tissues and organs, and is now returning to the heart and lungs to be re-oxygenated.
Here's a breakdown:
- The Role of Oxygen: Blood carries oxygen, which is vital for cellular function.
- Oxygen Delivery: As blood travels through the body, oxygen is released to cells.
- Deoxygenation: After releasing oxygen, the blood becomes deoxygenated.
- The Route: Deoxygenated blood travels through veins to the right side of the heart.
- Re-oxygenation: It's then pumped to the lungs where it picks up oxygen and becomes oxygenated.
Think of it like this: Blood is like a delivery truck. It picks up oxygen (packages) at the lungs (the depot), delivers the oxygen to the body's cells (customers), and then returns to the lungs empty (deoxygenated) to pick up more oxygen. The pulmonary artery carries this deoxygenated blood to the lungs, a key difference compared to the aorta, which carries oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.
