The Anatomy of the Heart

The heart has four Chambers

Two Atria and Two Ventricles

They receive blood from the body, and pump out the blood to the body..

The right atria and left atria receive blood coming back in from the body.

The right and left ventricles pump the blood back out into the body..

The Heart Beat Consists of Two Parts.

Thump-Thump. The first part of the beat pushes the blood from the atria (the small chambers on the top), to the ventricles, (the larger chambers on the bottom).

The second part of the beat pushes the blood out of the heart.

There are four valves to prevent backward flow of blood:

• aortic,
• pulmonary,
• mitral,
• tricuspid .

Each of these valves has flaps, called leaflets that allow the forward flow of blood and prevent the backward flow.

this picture is licensed under the wikimedia graphic license