Heart valves
- ICSE Class 10, Unit 3 Human Anatomy and Physiology
Heart valves are flaps inside the heart that let blood flow only one way, from auricles to ventricles and from ventricles into the arteries.
The heart has four valves. Each one sits at a doorway.
- Tricuspid valve: between the right auricle and the right ventricle. It has three flaps.
- Bicuspid (mitral) valve: between the left auricle and the left ventricle. It has two flaps.
- Semilunar valves: where the pulmonary artery and the aorta leave the ventricles.
Thin cords called chordae tendineae hold the flaps of the tricuspid and bicuspid valves. They stop the flaps from turning inside out when the ventricles squeeze.
A small example
The heart beat you hear as "lub-dub" is the valves shutting. When the ventricles contract (systole), the tricuspid and bicuspid valves snap shut: that is "lub". The semilunar valves open and blood leaves. When the ventricles relax (diastole), the semilunar valves close: that is "dub".
Where marks go
The 2024 ICSE Biology paper asked for the exact location of the bicuspid valve. The marking scheme wants "between the left auricle and left ventricle". CISCE's 2024 Biology report tells teachers to discourage "right side or left side of the heart" as a location. Name both chambers.
In 2025, the paper asked what holds the valve flaps in place. CISCE's 2025 report names "valves" and "papillary muscles" as wrong answers; the term is chordae tendineae. Spelling counts here, so check the words you lose marks on.
Sources
Facts last checked against these sources on 30 September 2026.
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