What Does The Respiratory System Do

Question: What is the primary function of the respiratory system?

Answer: To bring oxygen into the body and take carbon dioxide (a waste product of energy production) out of the body.

Question: What are the secondary functions of the respiratory system?

Answer: Production of vocal sounds, regulating body temperature, regulating pH of the body, and aiding in the olfactory sense.

Question: What is the difference between breathing and respiration?

Answer: Breathing is the mechanical action of bringing air in to and out of lungs. Respiration is the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide by diffusion across the lung cells and then the rest of the body’s cells.

Question: By what mechanisms is inhaled air warmed, humidified, and filtered as it passes through the nasal passages? How do the turbinates aid these processes?

Answer:

Question: Describe how the respiratory and digestive passageways “switch places” in the pharynx.

Answer: The throat or pharynx is a common passageway for both air and food. At the rostral end, the palate divides the pharynx into a dorsal nasal passageway (respiratory passageway) and a ventral digestive passageway (the mouth or oropharynx). However, at the caudal end of the pharynx, the digestive pathway(esophagus) becomes dorsal to the respiratory pathway (larynx and trachea).