Knowledge Center:

Your Heart

Your Heart and How It Works

Each side of the heart has a special job to do. Blood from the right side goes only to the lungs. The left side supplies blood to the rest of the body.

1. Blood is pumped from the right atrium through a valve into the right ventricle.
2. The ventricle then pumps the blood to the lungs.
3. In the lungs, the blood takes up oxygen and gives up the carbon dioxide waste it was carrying.
4. The oxygen rich blood is returned to the left atrium and then to the left ventricle. The left ventricle must then pump blood to all parts of the body. The left ventricle is the largest of the four chambers of the heart.
5. When the blood reaches a cell, it gives the cell oxygen and other vital materials and takes away carbon dioxide and other waste materials.
6. The blood goes back to the right side of the heart.
7. Once there, it the cycle starts again.