Purpose of the Respiratory System • Provide oxygen to the tissues • Remove carbon dioxide from the body • Temperature control, elimination of waste and voice production • Clean air before it enters the inner body Components of the Respiratory System • Nostrils: external openings • Nasal Cavity: connected to mouth by a hard and soft palate • Pharynx: Common passageway for food and air, but not at the same time. • Epiglottis: a valve-like structure that shuts when swallowing food. • Larynx: voice box for animal, controls breathing, keeps objects out of lungs Components of the Respiratory System, Con’t. • Trachea: wind pipe, consists of cartilage rings, similar to vacuum cleaner hose • Bronchi: Two tubes from trachea, each side enters a lung • Bronchioles: Small tubes from the bronchi • Alveoli: Smallest bronchioles, exhausts carbon dioxide • Diaphragm: sheet of muscle located beneath the lungs that separates the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity. Components of the Respiratory System, Con’t. • Lungs: – Two, elastic, spongy material that expand when filled with air – Cone shaped and divided into lobes – Lungs will always float in water – Primary purpose of the lungs is gas exchange