Dr SMiley asked:
specifically, its speed. Like for example, how long would it take one red blood cell to exit the heart, travel around the body, and end up back at the heart again.
specifically, its speed. Like for example, how long would it take one red blood cell to exit the heart, travel around the body, and end up back at the heart again.
July 19th, 2009 at 3:43 am
Faster than a speeding bullet!
July 19th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
In a normal system, blood travels at about 6 to 8 inches a second. The smaller the vessle it has to travel through the higher the pressure and thus greater the speed.
July 20th, 2009 at 8:50 am
varies with too many factors…..for a mph answer, but it might be listed in some anatomy texts as a little tid bit fact.
whether a person is exercising or stressed or not, how fat-lean they are, whether they have restrictive clothing on, high BP or not are all factors (but pulse rate and stroke volume are the key factors if person is of normal health) A drop of blood flowing in an elderly bradycardia patient is slower than a person with tachycardia doing sprints! Also blood flow is VERY slow in capillaries where there is a real tight squeeze and rbcs go thru there one by one; fastest in aorta where strongest musclular force is and largest vessel diameter.
July 23rd, 2009 at 8:20 am
It takes about 20 seconds for a red blood cell to circle the whole body.
July 24th, 2009 at 10:09 am
“It takes about 20 seconds for a red blood cell to circle the whole body.”
It will not traverse the whole body (every blood vessel) in that time. In smaller vessels, there is a “stop … go” system, controlled by muscles in the wall of the arterioles. These can clamp hard, stopping flow of blood, for a while. Thus, speed of travel varies a lot.
In larger vessels, you get “laminar flow” of blood; it moves faster, in the centre, and slower, near the wall of the blood vessel.
July 27th, 2009 at 9:06 am
In a normal system, blood travels at about 6 to 8 inches a second. The smaller the vessle it has to travel through the higher the pressure and thus greater the speed. in all teh smaller vessels the blood travels faster tahn a bullet.
July 28th, 2009 at 11:02 am
My biology teacher said that the blood travels at a speed of about 45km/hr in the arteries only. I’m sure about that, however I don’t know what it does in the veins and blood vessels
July 29th, 2009 at 11:08 am
I’ll be honest, I DO NOT know