Body Atlas

How You Breathe In · Lungs

Why is breathing so effortless most of the time?

Gas flows from higher pressure to lower — that's all breathing is.

The simple answer

Air moves for exactly one reason: pressure. Where it's crowded, it pushes toward where it isn't. Every breath in and every breath out is that single rule, applied twice.

Go deeper

There's more: gas flows from higher pressure to lower — that's all breathing is. The full explanation — and the interactive version you can tap and quiz yourself on — lives in the app.

Explore this concept in Body Atlas →

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