The chamber that pumps oxygenated blood to the body is the:

• A. Right atrium
• B. Left atrium
• C. Right ventricle
• D. Left ventricle

Answer: (D)

Think about how blood moves after it’s oxygenated in the lungs. That oxygen-rich blood returns to the heart and is then sent to the body by the left side of the heart. The chamber that does this pumping is the left ventricle. It receives blood from the left atrium and ejects it into the aorta, which distributes it to all body tissues. The left ventricle has thick, muscular walls because it must generate high pressure to overcome systemic resistance and push blood through the entire body.

In contrast, the right atrium and right ventricle handle blood returning from the body and send it to the lungs for oxygenation, not to the body. The left atrium collects oxygenated blood from the lungs and passes it to the left ventricle, which then pumps it outward to the body.