What vessels carry oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the body?

What vessels carry oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the body?

• A. Veins
• B. Arteries
• C. Capillaries
• D. Lymphatic vessels

Answer: (B)

Arteries carry oxygen-rich blood away from the heart to the body's tissues in the systemic circulation. Their thick, muscular walls withstand the heart’s pumping pressure, helping push blood through the aorta and its branches to organs and muscles. Veins return blood to the heart and are typically deoxygenated in the systemic circuit; capillaries are the tiny vessels where oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange occur; lymphatic vessels carry lymph, not blood. A helpful exception to keep in mind is that the pulmonary artery sends blood to the lungs (where it is deoxygenated), and the pulmonary veins return oxygenated blood to the heart. But for delivering oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the body, arteries are the correct vessels.

Arteries carry oxygen-rich blood away from the heart to the body's tissues in the systemic circulation. Their thick, muscular walls withstand the heart’s pumping pressure, helping push blood through the aorta and its branches to organs and muscles. Veins return blood to the heart and are typically deoxygenated in the systemic circuit; capillaries are the tiny vessels where oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange occur; lymphatic vessels carry lymph, not blood. A helpful exception to keep in mind is that the pulmonary artery sends blood to the lungs (where it is deoxygenated), and the pulmonary veins return oxygenated blood to the heart. But for delivering oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the body, arteries are the correct vessels.