Amazing Facts About the Lungs

1.) The total amount of air in the respiratory system is about 4 litres in a smaller adult, up to 6 litres in a larger adult.

2.) About 1 litre of air always stays in the lungs, no matter how hard we breathe out.

3.) In an average lifetime a person takes around half a billion breaths.

4.) On average, the inside of the nose makes about enough mucus every day to fill two egg-cups.

5.) If all the different-sized air tubes in the lungs could be joined end to end they would stretch more than 50 km.

6.) In both lungs of an adult there are about 300 million alveoli.