Question

What is the primary function of the pulmonary circulation?

Answer 1

It's main purpose is to give the blood oxygen so that blood can deliver it to different parts of the body.

Explanation:

When the blood comes into the heart from the vena cava , it is depleted of oxygen (and also has a lot of `CO_2` that it needs to get rid of).

The blood is whizzed away from the heart to the lungs along the pulmonary artery .

In the lungs, the `CO_2` is taken out of the blood and it is replenished with oxygen.

This happens in the alveoli of the lungs.

Like this.

Here's an awesome animation if you want to know HOW that happens:
http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0072507470/student_view0/chapter23/animation__movement_of_oxygen_and_carbon_dioxide.html

The blood (now happy with getting some oxygen and losing it's `CO_2`) is whisked to the heart along the pulmonary vein.

You can check out the locations of the pulmonary artery and vein here:

This is where pulmonary circulation ends.

The word pulmonary means `=` related to the lungs.

From there, the heart contracts and gives the blood a powerful push which then sends it to different parts of the body to deliver oxygen. This is the start of systemic circulation.