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I always get lost tracing blood through the four chambers and which side is oxygenated. Can someone give a clean step-by-step path?
The human heart has four chambers: two atria on top and two ventricles below. Trace the path in two circuits. Deoxygenated blood from the body enters the right atrium through the vena cava. It passes into the right ventricle, which pumps it through the pulmonary artery to the lungs. In the lungs the blood picks up oxygen and releases carbon dioxide. This oxygenated blood returns through the pulmonary veins into the left atrium. It then flows into the left ventricle, which has thick muscular walls, and is pumped through the aorta to the entire body. Remember the right side handles deoxygenated blood going to the lungs, and the left side handles oxygenated blood going to the body. Valves between the chambers prevent backflow, keeping blood moving in one direction.
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