Co-Authored By:
Alveoli are tiny sacs within our lungsthat allow oxygen and carbon dioxide to move between thelungs and bloodstream. Learn more about how they functionand quiz your knowledge at the end.
Simply so, how many alveoli are in the lungs?
600 million alveoli
Thereof, what happens in the alveoli?
Through the very thin walls of the alveoli,oxygen from the air passes to the surrounding capillaries (bloodvessels). A red blood cell protein called hemoglobin(HEE-muh-glow-bin) helps move oxygen from the air sacs to theblood. At the same time, carbon dioxide moves from the capillariesinto the air sacs.
These are also called pulmonary alveoli. Thesealveoli are located at the ends of the air passageways inthe lungs. They have very thin (one cell thick), wet walls and aresurrounded with a network of small blood vessels, orcapillaries.