What is the trachea? What is its common name?

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The main idea here is identifying the trachea as the principal airway that carries air from the larynx toward the lungs, and its common name is the windpipe. The trachea is a flexible tube kept open by C-shaped rings of hyaline cartilage, which prevent collapse while allowing movement during swallowing and neck movement. Its lining is ciliated pseudostratified columnar epithelium with goblet cells that produce mucus; the cilia help move mucus and trapped particles upward toward the pharynx to be swallowed or expelled, keeping the airway clear. It connects upward to the larynx and divides into the right and left main bronchi at the carina. This distinguishes it from alveolar sacs, which are gas-exchange structures at the ends of the airways, from the nasal cavity, which is the entry point for air in the nose, and from the esophagus, which is part of the digestive tract located behind the trachea. The term windpipe reflects its role as the main conduit for air.