©Onikienko E. V.
Methodical supply to the Self-Study option on Biophysics
SELF-STUDY 3.
Conceptual Questions
1. Is there any effect on the measured arterial blood pressure if the manometer is lowered?
What is the effect of raising the arm above the shoulder? What is the effect of placing the
cuff on the upper leg with the person standing? Explain your answers in terms of pressure
created by the weight of a fluid.
2. Because atmospheric pressure is about 105 𝑁/𝑚2 and the area of a person’s chest is about
0.13 𝑚2 , the force of the atmosphere on one’s chest is around 13 000 𝑁. In view of this
enormous force, why don’t our bodies collapse?
3. What is the difference between flow rate and fluid velocity? How are they related?
4. Why does the viscosity of a gas increase with temperature?
5. Doppler ultrasound can be used to measure the speed of blood in the body. If there is a
partial constriction of an artery, where would you expect blood speed to be greatest, at or
nearby the constriction? What are the two distinct causes of higher resistance in the
constriction?
6. When blood pressure is measured, why must the arm cuff be held at the level of the heart?
7. Pressure between the inside chest wall and the outside of the lungs normally remains
negative. Explain how pressure inside the lungs can become positive (to cause exhalation)
without muscle action.
8. Explain why the viscosity of a liquid decreases with temperature — that is, how might
increased temperature reduce the effects of cohesive forces in a liquid? Also explain why
the viscosity of a gas increases with temperature — that is, how does increased gas
temperature create more collisions between atoms and molecules?
©Onikienko E. V. Methodical supply to the Self-Study option on Biophysics
Problems
1. Blood flow. In humans, blood flows from the heart into the Figure 1
aorta, from which it passes into the major arteries, Fig. 1. These
branch into the small arteries (arterioles), which in turn branch
into myriads of tiny capillaries. The blood returns to the heart
via the veins. The radius of the aorta is about 1.2 cm, and the
blood passing through it has a speed of about 40 cm/s. A
typical capillary has a radius of about 4 × 10−4 cm and blood
flows through it at a speed of about 5 × 10−4 m/s. Estimate the
number of capillaries that are in the body.
2. Blood viscosity increases with the increase of hematocrit
proportionally to the current viscosity, thus the blood viscosity
can be given by 𝜂 = 𝜂𝑝 𝑒 𝛼𝐻 , where 𝛼 = 2 is a proportionality
constant, H – is hematocrit. Find blood viscosity,
corresponding to the normal hematocrit range (40-45%), if
blood plasma viscosity is equal to 𝜂𝑝 = 1,9 mPa ∙ s.
3. A spherical particle falling at a terminal speed in a liquid must have the gravitational force
balanced by the drag force and the buoyant force. The buoyant force is equal to the weight
of the displaced fluid, while the drag force is assumed to be given by Stokes Law, 𝐹𝑠 =
6𝜋𝜂𝑟𝑣. Show that the terminal speed is given by
2𝑅2 𝑔
𝑣= (𝜌𝑠 − 𝜌𝑓 )
9𝜂
where 𝑅 is the radius of the sphere, 𝜌𝑠 is its density, and 𝜌𝑓 is the density of the fluid
and 𝜂 the coefficient of viscosity.
Figure 2
4. A physician judges the health of a heart by measuring the
pressure with which it pumps blood. Suppose that the physician
mistakenly attaches the pressurized cuff around a standing
patient’s calf (about 1 m below the heart) instead of the arm
(see Fig.2). Calculate the pressure you would observe in
mm Hg if the pressure at the heart were 120 over 80 mm Hg.
Assume that there is no loss of pressure due to resistance in the
circulatory system (major arteries are large).
5. Poiseuille’s equation does not hold if the flow velocity is high enough that turbulence sets
in. The onset of turbulence occurs when the Reynolds number, Re, exceeds
approximately 2000. Determine if blood flow through the aorta is laminar or turbulent
when the average speed of blood in the aorta (𝑟 = 0.8 cm) during the resting part of the
heart’s cycle is about 35 cm/s. Calculate the Reynolds number for blood flow through the
aorta and determine if the flow is laminar or turbulent during exercises when the blood-
flow speed doubles.
©Onikienko E. V. Methodical supply to the Self-Study option on Biophysics
Tasks
Assume the following data of a patient are given:
Heart rate (𝐻𝑅)
Arterial blood pressure
Stroke volume (𝑆𝑉)
1. Derive the formula for the heart period (𝑇) and evaluate it
𝑇=
2. Estimate the pulse pressure (𝑃𝑃) by the formula
𝑃𝑃 = 𝑆𝑃 − 𝐷𝑃 =
where 𝑆𝑃 is the systolic pressure, 𝐷𝑃 is the diastolic pressure.
3. Estimate the mean arterial pressure (𝑀𝐴𝑃) by the formula
𝑃𝑃 𝑆𝑃 + 2𝐷𝑃
𝑀𝐴𝑃 = + 𝐷𝑃 or 𝑀𝐴𝑃 =
3 3
𝑀𝐴𝑃 =
4. Define the patient’s cardiac output (𝐶𝑂) by the formula
𝐶𝑂 = 𝐻𝑅 × 𝑆𝑉 =
5. Using the results from Task 1 define the total peripheral resistance (𝑇𝑃𝑅):
𝑀𝐴𝑃
𝑇𝑃𝑅 = =
𝐶𝑂
6. Estimate the work, done by the heart to pump blood across the body
𝑊 = 1.2 × 𝑀𝐴𝑃 × 𝑆𝑉 =
7. Define the heart power for a systole
𝑊 𝑊
𝑃𝑠 = = =
𝑡𝑠 0.3 𝑠
8. Define the average heart power
𝑊
𝑃= =
𝑇
