The Breathing System
The Human Breathing System Diagram
Structures in the human breathing system
Organs of the breathing system table
| Structure | Description |
| Ribs | The bone structure that protects internal organs such as the lungs |
| Intercostal muscles | Muscles between the ribs control their movement causing inhalation and exhalation |
| Diaphragm | Sheet of connective tissue and muscle at the bottom of the thorax that helps change the volume of the thorax to allow inhalation and exhalation |
| Trachea | The windpipe that connects the facial airways (mouth and nose) to the lungs. It is supported by C-shaped rings of cartilage |
| Larynx | Also known as the voice box, when air passes across here we are able to make sounds |
| Bronchus (plural: bronchi) | Large tubes branching off the trachea with one bronchus supplying each lung |
| Bronchioles | Bronchi split to form smaller tubes called bronchioles in the lungs connected to alveoli |
| Alveolus (plural: alveoli) | Tiny air sacs where gas exchange takes place |
| Capillaries | Blood vessels surround each capillary supplying deoxygenated blood and leaving with oxygenated blood |
