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Poiseuille's Law: What It Involves
Consider the following schematic of a blood vessel:
As the diagram shows, and as the formula has stated, Poiseuille's law relates
the flow rate with the pressure, viscosity, vessel radius and length.
For the purposes of this exhibit, we will always assume that the vessel in
consideration is a small artery or an arteriole.
Units of Measurement
- Pressure
- mmHg (millimeters of mercury) are used for measurement. For the formula, convert
to Pa (Pascals) by multiplying the mmHg by 133.3.
- Viscosity
- P (Poise) are the units (often with standard metric prefixes like centi- or milli-).
For the formula, convert to (Pa s) by dividing the value by 10.
- Radius
- mm (millimeters) or micrometers are appropriate dimensions, but it is most
useful in the formula to use cm (centimeters).
- Length
- cm (centimeters) are most convenient for measurements and for the formula.
More on Physical Parameters
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