The human heart

The main function is to pump blood around the body. Blood carries both nutrients and waste products, and is vital to life. One of the essential nutrients found in blood is oxygen. The right side of the heart is responsible for pumping blood to the lungs, where the blood cells pick up fresh oxygen. The oxygenated blood is then returned to the left side of the heart. From here the oxygenated blood is pumped out to the rest of the body supplying the fuel that the body cells need to function.

The Human Heart

1. The average human heart beats 72 times a minute; 100,000 times a day; 3,600,000 times a year; and 2.5 billion times during a lifetime.2. Though weighing only 11 ounces on average, a healthy heart pumps 2,000 gallons of blood through 60,000 blood vessels eah day.

1. Every day, your heart beats about 100,000 times, sending 2,000 gallons of blood surging through your body.2. If you're a kid, your heart is about the same size as your fist, and if you're an adult, it's about the same size as 2 fists.

Heart Images

Layers of the Heart

Main function of Heart

The human heart is a four-chambered muscular organ, shaped and sized roughly like a closed fist with two-thirds of the mass to the left midline. The heart is enclosed in a pericardial sac that is lined with the parietal layers of a serous membrane.

Structure of Heart

Fun Facts

Epicardium- thin layer of connective tissue and fat, serve as an additional layer of protection for the heart, under the pericardium.Myocardium- the muscle tissue of the heart, composed of cardiac muscle cells called cardiomyocytes, which contract like other muscle cells, but also conduct electricity to coordinate contraction.Endocardium- composed of endothelial cells, which provide a smooth, non-adherent surface for blood collection and pumping and may help regulate contractility.

Megan Haines