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Lungs and Respiratory System Quiz

Twenty questions on the airways and lungs. The diagram is a front view, so the patient’s right lung is on your left. Tap an answer to see if you’re right.

  1. Question 1 of 20

    Name the highlighted lobe.

    Lungs, front view
    1. Lingula
    2. Right middle lobe
    3. Right upper lobe
    4. Left upper lobe
    Show answer

    Answer: Right upper lobe. The top lobe of the right lung, above the horizontal fissure.

  2. Question 2 of 20

    Name the highlighted lobe.

    Lungs, front view
    1. Right middle lobe
    2. Right upper lobe
    3. Right lower lobe
    4. Lingula
    Show answer

    Answer: Right middle lobe. Only the right lung has a middle lobe, between the horizontal and oblique fissures.

  3. Question 3 of 20

    Name the highlighted lobe.

    Lungs, front view
    1. Right middle lobe
    2. Right upper lobe
    3. Left lower lobe
    4. Right lower lobe
    Show answer

    Answer: Right lower lobe. The biggest lobe, sitting on the diaphragm. Inhaled material often ends up here.

  4. Question 4 of 20

    Name the highlighted lobe.

    Lungs, front view
    1. Left lower lobe
    2. Left upper lobe
    3. Lingula
    4. Right upper lobe
    Show answer

    Answer: Left upper lobe. The left lung has two lobes; this upper one includes the lingula.

  5. Question 5 of 20

    Name the highlighted tongue-shaped part of the left lung.

    Lungs, front view
    1. Left lower lobe
    2. Left upper lobe
    3. Lingula
    4. Right middle lobe
    Show answer

    Answer: Lingula. Part of the left upper lobe, it’s the left lung’s equivalent of the right middle lobe.

  6. Question 6 of 20

    Name the highlighted lobe.

    Lungs, front view
    1. Left lower lobe
    2. Lingula
    3. Left upper lobe
    4. Right lower lobe
    Show answer

    Answer: Left lower lobe. Below the left oblique fissure, sitting on the diaphragm behind the heart.

  7. Question 7 of 20

    Name the highlighted tube.

    Lungs, front view
    1. Right main bronchus
    2. Trachea
    3. Oesophagus
    4. Larynx
    Show answer

    Answer: Trachea. The windpipe, kept open by C-shaped rings of cartilage.

  8. Question 8 of 20

    Name the highlighted point where the windpipe splits.

    Lungs, front view
    1. Lingula
    2. Larynx
    3. Hilum
    4. Carina
    Show answer

    Answer: Carina. The ridge where the trachea divides into the two main bronchi. It’s very sensitive and triggers coughing.

  9. Question 9 of 20

    Name the highlighted airway, where inhaled objects most often lodge.

    Lungs, front view
    1. Right main bronchus
    2. Trachea
    3. Oesophagus
    4. Left main bronchus
    Show answer

    Answer: Right main bronchus. It’s wider, shorter and more vertical than the left, so peanuts and teeth tend to go right.

  10. Question 10 of 20

    Name the highlighted muscle.

    Lungs, front view
    1. Intercostal muscle
    2. Pericardium
    3. Liver
    4. Diaphragm
    Show answer

    Answer: Diaphragm. The main breathing muscle. It flattens as it contracts, drawing air in.

  11. Question 11 of 20

    How many lobes does the right lung have?

    1. Two
    2. Three
    3. Five
    4. Four
    Show answer

    Answer: Three. Upper, middle and lower. The left has two, leaving room for the heart.

  12. Question 12 of 20

    Where does gas exchange happen?

    1. Bronchi
    2. Bronchioles
    3. Alveoli
    4. Trachea
    Show answer

    Answer: Alveoli. Hundreds of millions of tiny air sacs, each wrapped in capillaries, swap oxygen for carbon dioxide.

  13. Question 13 of 20

    Which nerve powers the diaphragm?

    1. Intercostal nerves
    2. Phrenic nerve
    3. Vagus nerve
    4. Accessory nerve
    Show answer

    Answer: Phrenic nerve. From the C3, C4 and C5 nerve roots: “C3, 4, 5 keeps the diaphragm alive.”

  14. Question 14 of 20

    Name the highlighted airway.

    Lungs, front view
    1. Left main bronchus
    2. Trachea
    3. Oesophagus
    4. Right main bronchus
    Show answer

    Answer: Left main bronchus. Longer and more horizontal than the right, because it has to pass under the aortic arch.

  15. Question 15 of 20

    Name the highlighted vessels bringing oxygen-rich blood back to the heart.

    Heart, front view (schematic)
    1. Pulmonary arteries
    2. Bronchial arteries
    3. Pulmonary veins
    4. Superior vena cava
    Show answer

    Answer: Pulmonary veins. The only veins carrying oxygen-rich blood. They empty into the left atrium.

  16. Question 16 of 20

    Name the highlighted vessel carrying blood from the right ventricle to the lungs.

    Heart, front view (schematic)
    1. Superior vena cava
    2. Pulmonary veins
    3. Aorta
    4. Pulmonary trunk
    Show answer

    Answer: Pulmonary trunk. It splits into left and right pulmonary arteries. A blood clot lodged here is a large pulmonary embolism.

  17. Question 17 of 20

    Someone upright inhales a peanut. Which highlighted lobe is it most likely to end up in?

    Lungs, front view
    1. Left lower lobe
    2. Lingula
    3. Right lower lobe
    4. Right upper lobe
    Show answer

    Answer: Right lower lobe. The right main bronchus is wider and more vertical, and gravity does the rest.

  18. Question 18 of 20

    Pneumonia in which highlighted lobe blurs the right border of the heart on a chest X-ray?

    Lungs, front view
    1. Right middle lobe
    2. Lingula
    3. Right lower lobe
    4. Right upper lobe
    Show answer

    Answer: Right middle lobe. The middle lobe sits against the right side of the heart, so lost air there wipes out that border (the silhouette sign).

  19. Question 19 of 20

    Pneumonia in which highlighted part blurs the left border of the heart?

    Lungs, front view
    1. Left upper lobe (top part)
    2. Left lower lobe
    3. Right middle lobe
    4. Lingula
    Show answer

    Answer: Lingula. The lingula is the left lung’s match for the right middle lobe, and it hugs the left heart border.

  20. Question 20 of 20

    A wide angle at the highlighted point on a chest X-ray can be a sign of what?

    Lungs, front view
    1. Normal ageing
    2. Enlarged lymph nodes or left atrium
    3. Asthma
    4. A collapsed lung
    Show answer

    Answer: Enlarged lymph nodes or left atrium. Big lymph nodes or a big left atrium under the carina push the two main bronchi apart.

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Common questions

How many lobes do the lungs have?

Five in total: three in the right lung (upper, middle, lower) and two in the left (upper and lower). The left upper lobe has a tongue-like part called the lingula.

Why is the left lung smaller?

The heart sits slightly to the left, so the left lung has a notch for it and only two lobes.

What are alveoli?

Tiny air sacs at the ends of the airways where oxygen passes into the blood and carbon dioxide passes out. Adults have hundreds of millions of them.

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Updated 16 November 2026. Diagrams are simplified, original sketches, not to scale. General education, not personal medical advice.