Answers to Lung ‘True or False’ Winter 2019 Newsletter Quiz

 

Q: True or False: The left lung has three lobes and the right lung has two lobes?

A: The answer is FALSE. The right lung has THREE lobes and the left lung has TWO lobes

 

Q: True or False: As you age, your lungs hold less air?

A: The answer is TRUE. Your lungs are at their peak with you’re in your 20s to mid-30s.  After that, your diaphragm gets weaker and your lung tissue can’t stretch as well.

 

Q: True or False: At the time of birth, a baby’s lungs are filled with fluid?

A: The answer is TRUE.  At the time of birth, a baby’s lungs are not inflated and are actually filled with a fluid that is secreted by the lungs. When the baby moves out of the birth canal, a sudden change in environment and temperature triggers the first breath which usually takes place 10 seconds after the baby is delivered from the birth canal.

 

Q: True or False: Our lungs can never fully deflate?

A: The answer is TRUE. No matter how hard we exhale, our lungs will always retain one litre of air in the airways. This makes the lungs only human organs that can float on water.

 

Q: True or False: The rib cage helps the lungs to breathe?

A: The answer is FALSE. The diaphragm helps the lungs to breathe.  The diaphragm, located below the lungs, is the major muscle of respiration. It is a large, dome-shaped muscle that contracts rhythmically and continually, and most of the time, involuntarily. Upon inhalation, the diaphragm contracts and flattens and the chest cavity enlarges. This contraction creates a vacuum, which pulls air into the lungs. Upon exhalation, the diaphragm relaxes and returns to its domelike shape, and air is forced out of the lungs.