Blood is taken to the lungs to become oxygenated and returned to the heart before being pumped through the body. Which blood vessels carry blood away from the heart?(1 point)
Responses
capillaries
capillaries
arteries
arteries
veins
veins
elastic
elastic
arteries
The blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart are arteries.
The blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart are arteries.
To understand why arteries carry blood away from the heart, let's first look at the basic structure of the heart and blood vessels. The heart is a muscular organ that pumps oxygenated blood to the body and deoxygenated blood to the lungs. It has four chambers – two atria and two ventricles.
When the heart contracts, the ventricles pump blood out, and this blood flows through the arteries. Arteries are thick-walled blood vessels with elastic fibers that allow them to withstand high pressure from the heart's contractions. They have a muscular layer that helps propel the blood forward.
As the arteries branch out, they become smaller blood vessels called arterioles, and eventually, they lead to even smaller vessels called capillaries. It is at the capillary level that oxygen and nutrients are exchanged with body tissues.
After passing through the capillaries, the blood starts its return journey back to the heart. It does this by flowing into small blood vessels called venules, which then join to form larger vessels known as veins. Veins have thinner walls compared to arteries and are equipped with valves that prevent the backward flow of blood.
Returning to your original question, arteries are responsible for carrying blood away from the heart. They play a crucial role in delivering oxygenated blood to different organs and tissues throughout the body.