Mondo Knows Facts
Human lungs have a surface area roughly equal to a tennis court
Millions of tiny air sacs provide massive surface area for gas exchange
The interior of human lungs contains roughly 300 to 500 million microscopic sacs called alveoli. Wrapped in dense capillary networks, these tiny structures create a combined surface area of roughly 70 square metres, optimising oxygen absorption into blood.
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Tags: lungs, breathing, respiratory system
Human lungs have a surface area roughly equal to a tennis court: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Millions of tiny air sacs provide massive surface area for gas exchange. The figure is taken from Encyclopaedia Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a human body fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Human Body shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
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