Welcome to aBetterChemText

Why aBetterChemText?

What is aBetterChemtext? aBetterChemText is intended to be a new way to look at Chemistry. It is written in plain English to make it acc...

Monday, July 8, 2019

Frogs Breathing

Frogs breathe differently than humans do.

Humans decrease the pressure in their lungs and allow the atmosphere to push air in. Frogs on the other hand, push the air into their lungs themselves.

Specifically, frogs take a mouthful of air and then contract a muscle in their throat causing the space in their mouth and throat to shrink. As the volume goes down, the pressure goes up (Boyle's Law), so the air in the frog's mouth is pushing into the lungs harder than the air in the lungs is pushing out and the air moves into the lungs.

Exhaling is simply a matter of opening the mouth (or nose) to the atmosphere. With an opening, the pressures will quickly become the same. As a result the air in the lungs is at a higher pressure (due to the excess air just pushed in) than the pressure in the throat and mouth of the frog and the air will push out of the lungs.

What is worth noting is that the human muscle contraction (of the diaphragm) causes a decrease in pressure in the lungs, while the muscle contraction in the frog (in the throat) causes an increase in pressure.

No comments:

Post a Comment