When you breathe, air travels through a specific pathway to reach your lungs.
Here's a breakdown of the airflow process:
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Inhalation: Air enters the body through the nose or mouth.
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Pharynx (Throat): The air then passes into the pharynx, which is the back of your throat. The pharynx serves as a common passageway for both air and food.
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Larynx (Voice Box): From the pharynx, air moves into the larynx, also known as the voice box. This structure contains the vocal cords which vibrate to produce sound when air passes through them.
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Trachea (Windpipe): The air then travels down the trachea, or windpipe. The trachea is a tube reinforced with cartilage rings to prevent it from collapsing.
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Bronchial Tubes: The trachea divides into two smaller tubes called bronchial tubes or bronchi. Each bronchus leads to one lung.
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Lungs: The right and left bronchi branch into even smaller tubes called bronchioles within the lungs. The bronchioles eventually lead to tiny air sacs called alveoli.
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Alveoli: The alveoli are surrounded by capillaries (tiny blood vessels). This is where gas exchange occurs: oxygen from the air moves into the blood, and carbon dioxide from the blood moves into the air to be exhaled.
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Exhalation: The process is then reversed: air, now rich in carbon dioxide, flows back up the respiratory tract and out through the nose or mouth.
In summary, air flows from the nose or mouth, through the pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchial tubes, and finally into the alveoli within the lungs, where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged. The air then travels back through the same pathway, but in reverse, during exhalation.
