Closed Double Circulatory System

The need for a circulatory system

 The cells of all living organisms need a constant supply of reactants for metabolism, e.g. oxygen
and glucose

 Single celled organisms can gain oxygen and glucose directly from their surroundings, and
the molecules can diffuse to all parts of the cell quickly due to short diffusion distances

 Larger organisms, however, are made up of many layers of cells, meaning that the time taken for
substances such as glucose and oxygen to diffuse to every cell in the body would be far too long

o The diffusion distances involved are too great

 To solve this problem their exchange surfaces are connected to a mass transport system, for
example

o The digestive system is connected to the circulatory system

o The lungs are connected to the circulatory system

 Mass transport is the bulk movement of gases or liquids in one direction, usually via a system of
vessels and tubes

 The circulatory system in mammals is a well-studied example of a mass transport system; the
one-way flow of blood within the blood vessels carries essential nutrients and gases to all the
cells of the body

Open & closed systems

 Circulatory systems are either described as being open or closed

 In a closed circulatory system, blood is pumped around the body and is always contained within
a network of blood vessels

o All vertebrates and many invertebrates have closed circulatory systems

 In an open circulatory system, blood is not contained within blood vessels but is pumped directly
into body cavities

o Organisms such as arthropods and molluscs have open circulatory systems

 Humans have a closed double circulatory system: in one complete circuit of the body blood
passes through the heart (the pump) twice

 The right side of the heart pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs for gas exchange; this is
the pulmonary circulatory system

 Blood then returns to the left side of the heart, so that oxygenated blood can be pumped
efficiently (at high pressure) around the body; this is the systemic circulatory system
The double circulatory system in mammals
The double circulatory system in mammals showing pulmonary and systemic circulation

Main circulatory system structures table

Structure Function

A hollow, muscular organ located in the chest cavity which pumps blood. Cardiac muscle tissue is specialised
Heart
for repeated involuntary contraction without rest.

Blood vessels which carry blood away from the heart. The walls of the arteries contain lots of muscle and
Arteries elastic tissue and a narrow lumen, to maintain high blood pressure. Arteries range from 0.4 - 2.5cm in
diameter.

Arterioles Small arteries which branch from larger arteries and connect to capillaries. These are around 30μm in diameter

Tiny blood vessels (5-10μm in diameter) which connect arterioles and venules. Their size means they pass
Capillaries
directly past cells and tissues and perform gas exchange and exchange of substances such as glucose.

Venules Small veins which join capillaries to larger veins. They have a diameter of 7μm - 1mm.

Blood vessels which carry blood back towards the heart. The walls of veins are thin in comparison to arteries,
Veins having less muscle and elastic tissue but a wider lumen. Valves help maintain blood flow back towards the
heart.

Examiner Tips and Tricks

Organisms that respire aerobically require oxygen to release energy from the breakdown of glucose and
other organic substances, but oxygen is not the only substance that needs to be transported around an
organism by a circulatory system.

Make sure you study any circulatory diagrams in the exam carefully to distinguish between single and
double circulatory systems and to discern between pulmonary and systemic circulation.

The Mammalian Heart

 The heart is labelled as if it was in the chest so what is your left on a diagram is actually the
right-hand side and vice versa

 The right side of the heart receives deoxygenated blood from the body and pumps it to the
lungs

 The left side of the heart receives oxygenated blood from the lungs and pumps it to the rest of
the body

 Blood is pumped into the heart in veins and away from the heart in arteries

 The two sides of the heart are separated by a muscle wall called the septum

 The heart is made of muscle tissue which is supplied with blood by the coronary arteries
Exterior heart structure diagram

The exterior view of the heart shows coronary arteries across the surface; these supply blood to the
heart muscle itself

Interior heart structure diagram

Examiner Tips and Tricks

Remember:

Arteries carry blood Away from the heart

VeINs carry blood INto the heart

Identifying Structures in the Heart

 The ventricles have thicker muscle walls than the atria as they pump blood out of the heart and
so need to generate a higher pressure
  The left ventricle has a thicker muscle wall than the right ventricle as it has to pump blood at
high pressure around the entire body, whereas the right ventricle pumps blood at lower
pressure to the lungs

 The septum separates the two sides of the heart and prevents the mixing of oxygenated and
deoxygenated blood

The structure of the heart shows the different valves

The function of valves

 The basic function of all valves is to prevent blood from flowing backwards

 There are two sets of valves in the heart:

o The atrioventricular valves separate the atria from the ventricles

o The semi-lunar valves are found in the two blood arteries that come out of the top of
the heart

o They are unusual in that they are the only two arteries in the body that contain valves

o These valves open when the ventricles contract so blood squeezes past them out of the
heart, but then close to avoid blood flowing back into the heart

Functioning of the Heart

 Deoxygenated blood coming from the body flows into the right atrium via the vena cava

 Once the right atrium has filled with blood, the heart gives a little beat and the blood is pushed
through the atrioventricular valve into the right ventricle

 The walls of the ventricle contract and the blood is pushed into the pulmonary artery through
the semilunar valve, which prevents blood from flowing backwards into the heart

 The blood travels to the lungs and moves through the capillaries past the alveoli where gas
exchange takes place

o This is why there has to be low pressure on this side of the heart – blood is going directly
to capillaries which would burst under higher pressure

 Oxygen-rich blood returns to the left atrium via the pulmonary vein

 It passes through the atrioventricular valve into the left ventricle

 The thicker muscle walls of the ventricle contract to push the blood forcefully into the aorta and
all the way around the body

 The semilunar valve in the aorta prevents the blood from flowing back down into the heart