Function of the Lungs Blood vessels running all through the lungs carry blood to each air sac, or alveolus (肺泡), and then back again to the heart. Only the thin wall of the air sac and the thin wall of a capillary (毛细管) are between the air and the blood. So oxygen easily diffuses from the air sacs through the walls into the blood, while carbon dioxide easily diffuses from the blood through the walls into the air sacs. When blood is sent to the lungs by the heart, it has come back from the cells in the rest of the body. So the blood that goes into the wall of an air sac contains much dissolved carbon dioxide but very little oxygen. At the same time, the air that goes into the air sac contains much oxygen but very little carbon dioxide. You have learned that dissolved materials always diffuse from where there is more of them to where there is less. Oxygen from the air dissolves in the moisture on the lining of the air sac and diffuses through the lining into the blood. Meanwhile, carbon dioxide diffuses from the blood into the air sac. The blood then flows from the lungs back to the heart, which sends it out all other parts of the body. Soon after air goes into an air sac, it gives up some of its oxygen and takes in some carbon dioxide from the blood. To keep diffusion going as it should, this carbon dioxide must be gotten rid of. Breathing, which is caused by movements of the chest, forces the used air out of the air sacs in your lungs and brings in fresh air. The breathing muscles are controlled automatically so that you breathe at the proper rate to keep your air sacs supplied with fresh air. Ordinarily, you breathe about twenty-two times a minute. Of course, you breathe faster when you are exercising and slower when you are resting. Fresh air is brought into your lungs when you breathe in, or inhale, while used air is forced out of your lungs when you breathe out, or exhale. Some people think that all the oxygen is taken out of the air in the lungs and that what we breathe out is pure carbon dioxide. But these ideas are not correct. Air is a mixture of gases that is mostly nitrogen. This gas is not used in the body. So the mount of nitrogen does not change as air is breathed in and out. But while air is in the lungs, it is changed in three ways: (1) About one-fifth of the oxygen in the air goes into the blood. (2) An almost equal amount of carbon dioxide comes out of the blood into the air. (3) Moisture from the linings of the air passages and air sacs evaporates until the air is almost saturated. While air is in the lungs, it changes in the following way:_______.