The Heart
This chamber pumps oxygenated blood to the body
What is the left ventricle?
These vessels carry blood away from the heart
What are arteries?
The liquid portion of blood
What is plasma?
The SA node sends the signal to this node next
What is the AV node?
Blood enters the right atrium from these two veins
What are the superior and inferior vena cava?
The protective double layered sac that surrounds the heart
What is the pericardium
The thinnest vessels where gas exchange occurs
What are capillaries?
Cells responsible for carrying oxygen
What are red blood cells?
These fibers spread the electrical impulse through the ventricles
What are purkinje fibers?
These vessels carry oxygenated blood from the lungs to the heart
What are pulmonary veins?
This valve prevents backflow between the left atrium and the left ventricle
What is the mitral valve?
These vessels have valves to prevent backflow
What are veins?
The protein inside RBCs that binds oxygen
What is hemoglobin?
This structure slows the signal slightly to allow the atria to finish contracting
What is the AV node?
What is the pulmonary artery?
The pacemaker of the heart
What is the SA node?
This artery supplies the heart muscle itself
What are the coronary arteries?
These blood components help with clotting
What are platelets?
On an ECG, this wave shows when the ventricles contract, and it is he biggest spike on the graph
What is the QRS complex?
This event marks the exact moment that causes the "lub" sound of the heartbeat during the cardiac cycle.
What is the closing of the AV valves?
What is diastole?
This vessel returns blood to the heart from the lower half of the body
What is the inferior vena cava?
This blood component is responsible for fighting infections in the body
What are white blood cells?
Why does the heart need its own electrical system instead of relying on nerves?
This chamber fills with blood first
What are the atria?