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Medicine & Nursing
Free The Respiratory System Flashcards
Breathing is the exam topic that connects anatomy, physiology, and clinical signs — from alveoli to blood gases. These cards cover the airway journey and the numbers nursing students must know cold.
Study these 10 starter cards
QUESTION
Tap the card to reveal the answer
QWhat is the path of air from nose to lungs?
ANose/mouth → pharynx → larynx → trachea → bronchi → bronchioles → alveoli
QWhere does gas exchange happen?
AIn the alveoli — across their thin walls into capillaries
QWhat is a normal adult respiratory rate?
A12–20 breaths per minute
QWhat muscle does most of the work of breathing?
AThe diaphragm
QWhat is normal oxygen saturation (SpO2)?
A95–100% on room air
QWhat does surfactant do?
ALowers surface tension so alveoli don't collapse
QWhat carries oxygen in the blood?
AHemoglobin in red blood cells
QWhat drives the urge to breathe in healthy people?
ARising CO2 (not low oxygen)
QWhat is the difference between ventilation and respiration?
AVentilation = moving air; respiration = gas exchange at the cellular/alveolar level
QWhich structure prevents food entering the airway?
AThe epiglottis
Turn these into lasting memory
Reading answers is recognition — remembering them next month takes spaced repetition. Build your own the respiratory system deck and we'll schedule every review at the right moment.
Create your free deck →How to study the respiratory system with flashcards
- One fact per card. Trace each recall down the airway in order — nose to alveoli — the respiratory tract is a one-way map made for sequence cards.
- Rate honestly. After each card, choose Again, Hard, Good, or Easy — the spaced repetition algorithm uses your answer to decide when the card returns, right before you'd forget it.
- A few minutes daily beats marathons. Ten new cards a day is roughly 3,650 a year, retained. Deep dives: Flashcards for nursing school · Leech cards and how to fix them · How the spaced repetition algorithm works.
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