MICROANATOMY

Detailed explanation-1: -The surface area of both lungs is roughly the same size as a tennis court and the total length of the airways running through them is 1, 500 miles. That’s about the distance from Chicago to Las Vegas.

Detailed explanation-2: -Lungs contain approximately 2, 400 kilometres of airways and 300 to 500 million air sacs (alveoli). If stretched out, the total surface area of lungs would be about the same size as half a tennis court.

Detailed explanation-3: -Your trachea is divided into two air passages called bronchial tubes. One bronchial tube leads to your left lung, the other to your right lung.

Detailed explanation-4: -Each breath contains around 500-600 ml of air, this is called the Tidal Volume (the depth of inhalation). People usually take around 10-15 breaths per minute when resting.

Detailed explanation-5: -There is also a structural advantage to having the lungs be separate, the main one being that the bronchial tubes bifurcate naturally, and that there is a place for the heart and other “indivisible” organs in the middle. Separation also decreases the chance of problems or disease in one spreading to the other.