Smoking introduces a sticky brown substance, tar, into the airways and lungs.

It builds up inside
the trachea and bronchioles so that, along with naturally produced mucus, it narrows them.
Smokers’ cough is the body’s attempt to remove the tar and mucus.
The tar also gets into the alveoli, with results as shown in the diagram below. The combination
of all these effects eventually results in a condition called emphysema.

A fish had gills, made up of gill filaments containing lamellae, which provide a very large surface
area for oxygen to diffuse out of the water as it moves over them. The blood vessels are in very
close proximity to the lamellae, allowing a short diffusion pathway. A fish also utilizes a
countercurrent system, where the blood flows in the opposite direction to the water across the
gills. This allows a concentration gradient to be maintained, so oxygen moves into the blood along
the entire length of the gill.

Fish have special organs called gills that allow them to breathe underwater. The gills are located
behind the head and are supported by structures called gill arches. The gills have thin, folded
tissues called gill lamellae, which increase their surface area for oxygen exchange.

When a fish breathes, it takes in water through its mouth and forces it out through the gill
openings. As the water passes over the gills, oxygen from the water diffuses into the fish's
bloodstream, while carbon dioxide from the fish's body diffuses into the water.

Diffusion is the process by which molecules move from an area of higher concentration to an
area of lower concentration. In this case, oxygen molecules in the water move across the thin
gill tissues into the fish's bloodstream, where the concentration of oxygen is lower. At the same
time, carbon dioxide molecules, which have a higher concentration in the fish's bloodstream,
move out of the blood and into the water.

Gills are important because water contains much less oxygen than air, and oxygen diffuses
more slowly in water. The gills provide a large surface area for efficient oxygen exchange. The
water flows over the gills in one direction, while the fish's blood flows in the opposite direction.
This counter-current flow maximizes the amount of oxygen that can be extracted from the water.

The process of diffusion is crucial for oxygen exchange across the gills. As water flows over the
gill lamellae, oxygen molecules in the water come into contact with the blood vessels in the
fish's gills. Because the concentration of oxygen is higher in the water compared to the fish's
blood, oxygen molecules diffuse across the gill tissues and enter the bloodstream. Similarly,
carbon dioxide molecules diffuse from the fish's bloodstream into the water, where the
concentration of carbon dioxide is lower.

Overall, gills and diffusion work together to allow fish to extract oxygen from water and release
carbon dioxide. Through the process of diffusion, oxygen moves from an area of higher
concentration (water) to an area of lower concentration (fish's bloodstream), while carbon
dioxide moves in the opposite direction. This enables fish to breathe and survive in aquatic
environments.