Right vs Left Lung
The lungs are the largest organ found in the respiratory system of many animals. The human lungs are a pair of cone-shaped organ; lie on the thoracic cavity above the diaphragm. In an adult human, both lungs weigh about 2.3 kg and contain 300 to 500 million alveoli. The heart and great vessels in the middle mediastinum separate the right and left lungs, and each of them contains a base, a lateral or costal surface, and a medial surface. Except the medial surface (called hilum), all the other surfaces of the lung are covered with pleura. The pulmonary artery enters the lung, and the pulmonary veins leave it, at the ‘hilum’. The lungs are made up of two zones, namely conducting zone and respiratory zone. The conducting zone is comprised of trachea, bronchi, bronchioles and terminal bronchioles and is used to conduct air within the respiratory system. As the name implies, the respiratory zone involves in the respiration, and it is comprised of respiratory bronchioles, alveolar ducts, and alveoli. The main function of lungs is taking oxygen into the body and eliminating carbon dioxide as waste from the body through the gas exchange process.
Right Lung
The right lung lies on the right side of the thoracic cavity, and it is divided into three lobes, namely the upper, middle, and the lower, by horizontal and oblique fissures. The horizontal fissure separates the superior and middle lobes while, the oblique fissure separates the inferior lobe from the other two lobes.
Left Lung
The left lung is situated in the left side of the body and is divided into two lobes (the upper and the lower) by the deep oblique fissure. The existence of the heart partly compress the anterior border of the left lung; hence it is comparatively smaller than the right lung. The superior lobe has a small tongue-like projection called lingual.
What is the difference between Right and Left Lung?
• Right lung has three lobes, whereas left lung has only two.
• Right lung is shorter and wider, whereas the left lung is narrower and more oblong.
• Anterior border of the left lung is marked by a deep cardiac notch, while that of the right lung is straight. Therefore, left lung is much smaller than right lung (heart occupies space on the left side).
• Due to the compression of the liver, the volume of the right lung is higher than that of the left lung. Hence, the right lung is heavier than left lung.
• The base of the right lung is more concave, while the base of left lung is less concave.
• At the hilums of both lungs, the right lung possesses two bronchi and the left lung possesses only one bronchus.
• Left lung has only oblique fissure, while right lung has horizontal and oblique fissure.
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