An artery (from Greek ἀρτηρία (artēríā)) is a blood vessel in humans and most other animals that takes oxygenated blood away from the heart in the systemic circulation to one or more parts of the body. Exceptions that carry deoxygenated blood are the pulmonary arteries in the pulmonary circulation that carry blood to the lungs for oxygenation, and the umbilical arteries in the fetal circulation that carry deoxygenated blood to the placenta. It consists of a multi-layered artery wall wrapped into a tube-shaped channel.
Arteries contrast with veins, which carry deoxygenated blood back towards the heart; or in the pulmonary and fetal circulations carry oxygenated blood to the lungs and fetus respectively.
The system is closed, and as much blood rises to a certain height, an equal amount descends from the same height, so the two liquid columns create equal but opposite pressures, and their effect on the heart is 'neutralized.' Therefore, if we ignore friction in the blood vessels, it shouldn’t...