1.2.5a The Blood Vessels

  1. Three types of blood vessels
    1. artery
    2. vein
    3. capillary
  2. Artery: Carries blood from the heart to other parts of the body.
  3. Vein: Carries blood from other parts of the body back to the heart.
  4. The arteries divides into smaller branches called arterioles.
  5. The veins receives blood from smaller branches called venules.
  6. Capillaries: Blood vessels connect the arterioles and venules.
  7. Around the capillaries are body cells.

(Image derived from the work of Kelvinsong and is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.)



Comparison

Artery Vein Capillary
Main function Carries oxygenated blood from the to ather parts of the body Carries dexoygenated blood from the other parts of the body to the heart. Connect arterioles and venules.
Allows exchange of materials between the blood and the cells.
Blood Carries oxygenated blood except pulmonary artery Carries deoxygenated blood except pulmonary vein
Valves No valves except pulmonary artery All have valves except pulmonary vein No valves
Blood pressure High Low Very low
Blood flow Rapid Slow Very slow
Diagram
Wall Thick muscular wall Thin wall and less muscular Thin wall, only one-cell thick
Size of lumen Small lumen Big lumen Very small lumen
Branches Arterioles Venules No


(All 3 images in the table above are derived from the work of Kelvinsong and is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.


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