What is the significance of the difference in thickness of the ventricular walls

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Does ideal gas law apply to liquids? Impact of this question views around the world. You can reuse this answer Creative Commons License. The blood then flows to the left ventricle where it is then pumped, via the systemic circuit, through the aorta and then pumped out to the to the organs and tissues of the body to supply them with oxygen and nutrients, and pick up waste products for expulsion.

Follow the arrows on the diagram above as this shows the direction of blood flow through the heart. Being a muscle which requires nutrients for fuel, the heart also has its own blood supply.

It receives the oxygenated, nutrient rich blood that it needs from the coronary arteries which branch off the aorta.

The deoxygenated blood is then returned to the right atrium through the cardiac veins. The ventricles of the heart have thicker muscular walls than the atria. This is because blood is pumped out of the heart at greater pressure from these chambers compared to the atria. The left ventricle also has a thicker muscular wall than the right ventricle, as seen in the adjacent image. This is due to the higher forces needed to pump blood through the systemic circuit around the body compared to the pulmonary circuit.

There are four valves within the heart which serve to prevent backflow of blood as it passes through the various chambers of the heart and out through the associated arteries. The tricuspid valve is positioned between the right atrium and ventricle, and the mitral valve sits between the left atrium and ventricle, as seen in the adjacent image. As blood is pumped out of the ventricles through the aorta and the pulmonary arteries, these valves close to ensure the blood does not get pumped back into the respective atria it came from.

The pulmonary valve sits between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery. Its role is to prevent the backflow of blood into the right ventricle after it contracts. The aortic valve sits between the left ventricle and the aorta and prevents backflow of blood into the left ventricle after it contracts.