Question

Describe what is happening during internal and external respiration. (Be more detailed than a simple definition)

Answer 1

Respiration is also referred to as gas exchange, and it occurs in two areas of the body. External respiration refers to gas exchange across the respiratory membrane in the lungs.
Internal respiration refers to gas exchange across the respiratory membrane in the metabolizing tissues .  The bloodstream delivers oxygen to cells and removes waste carbon dioxide through internal respiration, another key function of the respiratory system. It diffuses through the capillary walls into body tissues.

Gas exchange in the lungs is referred to as external respiration as one side of the respiratory membrane that is, the alveolar air is actually outside of the body. As blood flows through the pulmonary
capillaries , oxygen diffuses into the blood and carbon dioxide diffuses into the alveolar gas. Each gas diffuses down its own partial pressure gradient that is, from a high to low partial pressure.