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Respiratory system
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The respiratory system exists for a job that allows no pause: delivering oxygen to the body's tissues, which need it for cellular respiration, the way a cell gets its energy. At the same time it removes carbon dioxide, the waste product of that process, and helps maintain acid-base balance, that is, how acidic the blood is.
The easiest way to understand it is to split it in two by what each stretch does. There is a conducting zone, which does not directly take part in gas exchange: it is the road. And there is a respiratory zone, where that exchange actually happens. The road is no dumb pipe: the conducting zone's main jobs are to give air a route in and out, strip debris and pathogens from it, and warm and humidify it before it travels any deeper. It is customs, heater and humidifier, all in the same hallway.
In brief
The main organs of the respiratory system work primarily to deliver oxygen to the body's tissues for cellular respiration, remove waste carbon dioxide, and help maintain acid-base balance.
Functionally it divides into a conducting zone, which does not take part directly in gas exchange, and a respiratory zone, where that exchange happens.
The conducting zone's main jobs are to give air a route in and out, strip debris and pathogens from it, and warm and humidify it.
Sources (1)
- OpenStax, Rice UniversityAnatomy and Physiology 2e, 22.1 Organs and Structures of the Respiratory SystemPublished
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