the.com/trachea
the only tube proud enough to hold itself open with literal cartilage rings.
means The trachea is the windpipe — the rigid tube running from your larynx down to your bronchi that carries air to and from your lungs.
from From Late Latin trachea, borrowed from Greek tracheia, short for tracheia arteria, 'rough artery' — the ancients called it 'rough' (tracheia) because of those bumpy cartilage rings, distinguishing it from the smooth blood vessels. In their anatomy, 'arteria' originally meant any of these air-carrying tubes, since they believed such vessels held air rather than blood — a misunderstanding fossilized in the name.
- C-shaped rings
- Open backs let the esophagus bulge during swallowing.
- Cilia carpet
- Tiny hairs sweep mucus and dust upward constantly.
- Length
- Roughly 10 to 12 centimeters in adults.
- Cough power
- Air can rocket out near 100 miles per hour.
- Splits in two
- Forks into bronchi at the carina ridge.
trachea of a human — the windpipe in humans, approximately 10-12 cm long, connecting larynx to bronchi
trachea of a horse — equine airway, notably wider than humans, used in veterinary intubation studies