Question

Which of the following describes what might happen if the septum in the heart ruptured?
Answer
Blood entering the atria would leak into the ventricles.
Blood from outside the heart would leak into the heart.
Incoming and outgoing blood would mix, causing turbulence.
Oxygenated and deoxygenated blood would mix in the heart.

Answer 1

Hey there,

The septum is the muscular wall separating the right and left ventricles. As you know, deoxygenated blood comes in through the vena cava, right atrium, right ventricle, and exits through the pulmonary arteries to the lungs. Blood returns by the pulmonary veins, enters the left atrium, enters the left ventricle, and from there is pumped through the aorta to the rest of the body.

Okay, so given that info, let's take a look at your choices.

Which do you think is most likely to be your answer choice? Consider - you now have an opening between your left and right ventricles which previously did not exist.

Answer 2

so it's this one:
Blood entering the atria would leak into the ventricles.?

Answer 3

So here's a poorly drawn picture of a heart....for blood to leak into the ventricles from the atria, there would have to be a problem with the heart area labelled "A" right? A rupture of the septum, however, affects the area labelled "B". So what would be most consitent with that info? A further clue - the left ventricle pumps out blood that has come from the lungs (where it received oxygen)...and the right ventricle pumps out blood from the body (depleted of oxygen).