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Activity 1: Studying the Effect of Blood Vessel Radius on Blood Flow Rate
Experiment: The basic setup is two glass beakers connected by a tube through which a blood-like fluid flows.
Pressure is applied to one of the beakers to get the fluid to flow through the tube into the other beaker. This is a
model of circulation in which the applied pressure represents the pumping action of the heart. In this particular
experiment, pressure, viscosity, and length are kept constant (at 100 mm Hg, 1.0, and 50 mm, respectively)
while tube radius is varied between 1.5 and 5 mm. The purpose of the experiment was to see how radius affects
flow rate.
Prediction: Answers will vary.
Results: The graph below shows the effect of radius on flow rate. Flow rate increases dramatically (nonlinearly)
as radius is increased. For example, increasing the radius by a factor of 2 (from 1.5 mm to 3 mm) causes a nearly
16-fold increase in flow (from 4.0 mL/min to 63.6 mL/min).
Conclusion: The data are consistent with Poiseuille’s Law of Laminar Flow, which says that flow is proportional
to radius raised to the 4th power. Thus, small changes in vessel radius – as can be achieved by contraction or
relaxation of the smooth muscles surrounding a vessel – can cause large changes in flow.
Activity 3: Studying the Effect of Blood Vessel Length on Blood Flow Rate
Experiment: Same as above, except that pressure, radius, and viscosity were kept constant (at 100 mm Hg, 3
mm, and 3.5, respectively), while length was varied between 10 and 40 mm. The purpose of the experiment
was to determine how length affects flow rate.
Prediction: Answers will vary.
Results: The graph below shows the effect of length on flow rate. The relationship resembles the relationship
between viscosity and flow rate in Activity 2 above; as length increases, flow rate decreases.
Conclusion: Once again, the data are consistent with Poiseuille’s law. The impact of length on flow is not the
most interesting part of Poiseuille’s law, since the length of a given vessel does not vary from minute to minute
or month to month.
BBio 242 Summer 2015