What is an artery?
Q: What is an artery?
A: An artery is a blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart to other parts of the body.
Q: What type of blood do almost all arteries carry?
A: Almost all arteries carry blood with a lot of oxygen in it.
Q: Which arteries do not carry oxygen-rich blood?
A: The pulmonary artery, and (in a fetus) the umbilical artery do not carry oxygen-rich blood.
Q: What are the three layers of an artery?
A: Every artery has three layers: the outer layer is a thick covering made of stretchy tissue, the middle layer is made of muscle, and the inner lining is made of the same cells that line the heart.
Q: Do arteries have valves to prevent blood from flowing backwards?
A: Arteries do not have valves to prevent blood from flowing backwards.
Q: How do arteries push blood through?
A: Every time the heart beats, the arteries stretch out so the blood has room to go through. Once the walls have completely stretched out, the muscles in the arteries make them shrink back to their normal size, pushing the blood through.
Q: What are arterioles?
A: Arteries split down into small vessels called arterioles.
