Gas Exchange in the Alveoli

Adjust the alveolus, watch oxygen diffuse into the blood, and work out what makes it fast.

๐ŸŽฏ

Your task: right now this alveolus is terrible at gas exchange. Change the four controls to maximise the rate of oxygen diffusion into the blood. As you fix each one, you'll unlock why it works.

Cross-section of an alveolus

oxygen red blood cell
Relative diffusion rate 0%
Surface is dry โ€” nothing can cross yet.
Surface area area very small
Wall thickness distance very thick
Blood flow gradient very slow
Moist lining on / off
Dry surface

What you've discovered

Each adaptation unlocks once you've improved that control. Real alveoli have all four.

๐Ÿ”’ locked 1 Large surface area

More room to diffuse

A bigger surface area means more oxygen molecules can cross at the same time, so the overall rate of diffusion is higher. Your lungs have ~300โ€“500 million alveoli, giving a total surface area of about 70 mยฒ โ€” roughly half a tennis court.
๐Ÿ”’ locked 2 Thin walls

A short diffusion distance

Thinner walls mean oxygen travels a shorter distance to reach the blood, so it crosses faster. The alveolar wall and the capillary wall are each just one cell thick โ€” the whole barrier is around 1 ยตm.
๐Ÿ”’ locked 3 Good blood supply

Keeps the gradient steep

Flowing blood carries oxygenated blood away and brings deoxygenated blood in. This keeps oxygen low in the blood, so the concentration gradient between air and blood stays steep โ€” and diffusion stays fast. Breathing in and out (ventilation) does the same job on the air side, keeping alveolar oxygen high.
๐Ÿ”’ locked 4 Moist lining

Lets gases dissolve

Oxygen must dissolve into a thin film of moisture before it can diffuse across the membrane. A dry surface means almost no exchange. This is a requirement for diffusion, not a dial you turn up โ€” that's why it's a switch, not a slider.
Higher tier โ€” putting it together

Fick's Law

The rate of diffusion depends on three things โ€” and three of your four controls map straight onto them:

rate of diffusion โˆ surface area × concentration difference diffusion distance

Surface area (slider 1) and concentration difference โ€” kept steep by blood flow (slider 3) โ€” are on top, so increasing them increases the rate. Diffusion distance โ€” the wall thickness (slider 2) โ€” is on the bottom, so making it smaller increases the rate.

Where's moisture? It isn't in Fick's law at all. It's an enabling condition โ€” gases have to dissolve before any of this can happen.

Check your understanding

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