3.

The human heart

The structure and function
of human heart
 Muscular pump that circulate blood
 Contains four chambers, two upper chambers
are the atria and two lower chambers are the
ventricles
 Atria receives blood returning to the heart
 Ventricles pump blood out of the heart
 Muscular wall of left ventricle is thicker to pump
blood to all parts of the body
 Right ventricle pump blood to the lungs
 Has valves that allow blood flows in one
direction
The flow of blood in the
heart
 The flow of blood in the heart.doc
The circulation of blood in
human
 Occurs in two ways:
2. The pumping of the heart
3. Contraction of skeletal muscles around
veins
 1. The pumping of the heart
 Heart is made up of a strong muscle (cardiac
muscle)
 Contract and relax without the need to
receive stimulation by nerve impulses
(myogenic)
 The contraction of heart is initiated and
coordinated by a pacemaker, a cluster of
specialised heart muscle cells and located in
the wall of the right atrium
1. The pumping of the heart
cont…
 Pacemaker is controlled by nervous system
and endocrine system and regulate by two
opposing sets of nerves, parasympathetic
nerves (slow down) and sympathetic nerves
(speed up)
 Adrenaline increase the heartbeat during
fear, excitement or danger
 The sequence of contractions of the heart musc
heart.doc
2. Contraction of skeletal
muscles around veins
 Blood propelled through human blood
system with the help of contraction of
skeletal muscles around the vein.
 Contraction of skeletal muscles will
squeeze the vein and push blood through
the vein.
 One-way valves in the vein allow the blood
flow towards the heart.
Exercise
1. How many chambers are there in human
heart and what are their names?
2. Explain how blood is circulated in the
human body.
Answers
 Four chambers – two upper chamber are the atria
and two lower chambers are the ventricles
 The circulation of blood in human is a result of
the pumping of the heart and the contraction
of the skeletal muscles around veins. The
pumping of the heart helps to sends blood
throughout the body. Blood is also sent through
the circulatory system with the help of the
contraction of skeletal muscles around the vein.
The contraction of skeletal muscles around the
vein helps to push the blood along the vein
towards the heart.