The lungs take in oxygen. The body's cells need oxygen to live and carry out their normal functions. They also get rid of carbon dioxide. This is a waste product of the cells.
The lungs are two cone-shaped organs. They're made up of spongy, pinkish-gray tissue. They take up most of the space in the chest, or the thorax (the part of the body between the base of the neck and diaphragm). They're inside a membrane called the pleura.
The lungs are separated by an area (mediastinum) that has:
- Heart and its large vessels
- Windpipe
- Food pipe (esophagus)
- Thymus gland
- Lymph nodes
The right lung has three lobes. The left lung has two lobes. When you breathe, the air:
- Enters the body through the nose or mouth
- Travels down the throat through the voice box and windpipe
- Goes into the lungs through tubes (mainstem bronchi):
- One of these tubes goes to the right lung and one goes to the left lung
- In the lungs, these tubes divide into smaller bronchi
- Then into even smaller tubes called bronchioles
- Bronchioles end in tiny air sacs called alveoli