Concerning the thickness
of their walls how different
are the heart chambers?
The heart is a muscular organ that is divided into four chambers: Left auricle, right auricle, left ventricle, and right ventricle. The ventricles have thicker walls than the auricles since the ventricles are the structures responsible for the pumping of blood to the lungs or tissues.
The difference in the thickness of the muscular walls is due to the pumping mechanism of the heart. The right ventricle pumps blood only to the lungs for oxygenation. As the lungs lie close to the heart, very less amount of pressure is required by the right ventricle to pump the blood. Also, the blood being pumped to the lungs needs to be at a low pressure to prevent damage to the thin capillaries that the blood goes through in the lungs. On the other hand, the left ventricle pumps oxygenated blood around the entire body. As it needs to pump the blood for a longer distance, the left ventricle needs to generate extra force. This extra force is provided by the additional muscle found in the left ventricle compared to the right ventricular wall. Thus, it explains how the difference in the thickness of the wall affects the function of the two ventricles of the heart.
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