What is the function of the right ventricle?

What is the function of the right ventricle?

• A. Pumps blood to the systemic circulation
• B. Pumps blood to the lungs, requiring less pressure than the left ventricle
• C. Receives oxygenated blood from the lungs
• D. Receives deoxygenated blood from the body

Answer: (B)

The right ventricle’s job is to move deoxygenated blood to the lungs for oxygenation, via the pulmonary circulation. This pathway presents low resistance, so the right ventricle operates under much lower pressure than the left ventricle, which must push blood through the whole body. That’s why the statement that describes pumping to the lungs at less pressure than the left ventricle is the best choice. The left ventricle is the chamber that drives systemic circulation with high pressure, which is why option describing systemic pumping isn’t the right fit for the right ventricle. The right ventricle receives blood from the right atrium, which collects deoxygenated blood from the body, not from the lungs, so it does not receive oxygenated blood from the lungs.

The right ventricle’s job is to move deoxygenated blood to the lungs for oxygenation, via the pulmonary circulation. This pathway presents low resistance, so the right ventricle operates under much lower pressure than the left ventricle, which must push blood through the whole body. That’s why the statement that describes pumping to the lungs at less pressure than the left ventricle is the best choice. The left ventricle is the chamber that drives systemic circulation with high pressure, which is why option describing systemic pumping isn’t the right fit for the right ventricle. The right ventricle receives blood from the right atrium, which collects deoxygenated blood from the body, not from the lungs, so it does not receive oxygenated blood from the lungs.