how much skin covers 1 of your alveoli?
zero. skin is epidermis, which is not in your lungs.
No i mean, like the stuff that covers your alveoli
Use a fake name, Josh. Such as butterfly, or sister2, or honeybeebob. The purpose we have it is to track students questions if they have a followup.
A typical pair of human lungs contain about 700 million alveoli, producing 70m² of surface area.
area of each alveoli=totalarea/totalnumber
areaeach=70m^2/700million
= 70*10^6 cm^2/700*10^6
= .1 cm^2
To determine how much skin covers one alveolus, we first need to understand what an alveolus is. Alveoli are tiny air sacs present in the lungs, responsible for the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide during respiration. They are located at the end of the respiratory bronchioles and are surrounded by a network of tiny blood vessels called capillaries.
Now, there is no direct skin covering each individual alveolus since the skin is the outermost layer that covers the body. However, the alveoli are lined with a thin layer of specialized cells known as pneumocytes that facilitate the gaseous exchange process. These cells create a thin membrane called the respiratory membrane, which consists of the alveolar epithelial lining, the capillary endothelial lining, and the basement membrane.
So, in essence, the alveoli are internally lined with pneumocytes but are not covered by skin. Instead, they are surrounded by an extensive network of capillaries, allowing for efficient exchange of gases.
To summarize, alveoli are not covered by skin, but they are lined internally by specialized cells called pneumocytes and are surrounded by capillaries for an efficient exchange of gases during respiration.