How does blood flow through the heart?

The heart has four chambers that pump blood. The chambers are called the right atrium, right ventricle, left atrium, and left ventricle.

The right and left sides of the heart are separated by a muscular wall called the septum.The heart also has valves that separate the chambers and connect to major blood vessels.

The right and left sides of the heart work together

A)Inside the Atria

Right Side:
Blood goes into the heart via two large veins, the inferior and superior vena cava, emptying oxygen-deprived blood from the whole body into the right atrium.

Left Side:
The pulmonary(lung) vein empties oxygen-rich blood, from the lungs into the left atrium.

B)Inside the Ventricles

As the heart contracts, The flaps of connective tissue called valves between the atria and the ventricles open allowing the blood flows from the atria into the ventricles.

• The oxygen-poor blood flows from the right atrium through the tricuspid valve to the right ventricle.
• From the right ventricle, blood is pumped through the pulmonary valve into the blood vessel that goes to the lungs. This blood then take up oxygen (becomes oxygenated).

Oxygenated blood flows from the lungs through blood vessels back to the heart's left atrium.

•  From the left atrium, blood goes through the mitral valve and into the left ventricle.
• *The left ventricle pumps blood through the aortic valve to a major blood vessel called the aorta and out to the body.

The blood delivers oxygen to the body, then returns through veins to the right atrium and repeats the blood flow cycle.