Which side is oxygen rich in the heart

The right and left sides of the heart are separated by a muscular wall that prevents blood without oxygen from mixing with blood that has oxygen.

The heart also has valves that separate the chambers and connect to major blood vessels. Your heart is divided into two separate pumping systems, the right side and the left side. The right side of your heart receives oxygen-poor blood from your veins and pumps it to your lungs, where the blood picks up oxygen and gets rid of carbon dioxide. The left side of your heart receives oxygen-rich blood from your lungs and pumps it through your arteries to the rest of your body.

Blood travels through your heart and lungs in four steps:. Author: Healthwise Staff. Medical Review: Rakesh K. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated, disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. This extended network of stretchy tubes circulates blood throughout the body.

Laid end-to-end, your body's blood vessels would extend about 60, miles. That's more than 21 road trips between New York and Los Angeles! Arteries along with smaller arterioles and microscopic capillaries convey oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood to the body's tissues.

In turn, veins bring nutrient-depleted blood back to the heart. Along the way, blood is routed through the kidneys and liver, as well, filtering waste products from the blood. The heart's four chambers pump in an organized manner with the help of electrical impulses that originate in the sinoatrial node also called the "SA node". Situated on the wall of the right atrium, this small cluster of specialized cells is the heart's natural pacemaker, initiating electrical impulses at a normal rate.

The impulse spreads through the walls of the right and left atria, causing them to contract, forcing blood into the ventricles. The impulse then reaches the atrioventricular AV node, which acts as an electrical bridge for impulses to travel from the atria to the ventricles.

From there, a pathway of fibers the HIS-Purkinje network carries the impulse into the ventricles, which contract and force blood out of the heart. Superior vena cava: Receives blood from the upper body; delivers blood into the right atrium.

Inferior vena cava: Receives blood from the lower extremities, pelvis and abdomen, and delivers blood into the right atrium. Right atrium: Receives blood returning to the heart from the superior and inferior vena cava; transmits blood to the right ventricle, which pumps blood to the lungs for oxygenation.

Tricuspid valve: Allows blood to pass from the right atrium to the right ventricle; prevents blood from flowing back into the right atrium as the heart pumps systole.

Right ventricle: Receives blood from the right atrium; pumps blood into the pulmonary artery. The right ventricle pumps the blood from the right atrium into the lungs to pick up oxygen and remove carbon dioxide.

The left ventricle pumps the blood from the left atrium out to the body, supplying all organs with oxygen-rich blood. The 4 valves are the aortic, pulmonary, mitral, and tricuspid valves. They let blood flow forward and prevent the backward flow. Blood vessels. These bring blood to the lungs, where oxygen enters the bloodstream, and then to the body:.

The inferior and superior vena cava bring oxygen-poor blood from the body into the right atrium. The pulmonary artery carries oxygen-poor blood from the right ventricle into the lungs, where oxygen enters the bloodstream. An electrical system that stimulates contraction of the heart muscle. Search Encyclopedia. About the Heart and Blood Vessels The heart is the hardest working muscle in the human body.

How the heart works The heart is a large, muscular organ that pumps blood filled with oxygen and nutrients through the blood vessels to the body tissues. It's made up of: 4 chambers. Here is the process: The right atrium receives blood from the body.