Physics of the heart

Crossover?

The blood system is the main transport system for food supply and disposal of body by-products. It
serves for distribution of food contents (from the digestive system) and the oxygen (from the
respiratory system) to the body cells and it serves also as transport system for the disposing of the
by-products (like carbon dioxide) of the combustion process.

The total blood mass is about 7% of the total body mass and the total blood volume is about 4.4L
(for an average person of mass m = 65kg).

a) Find the average density of blood.

b) Find the additional pressure at the feet due the column of blood for an average person with
ℎ!""#$%"&'# ≈ 125𝑐𝑚

The heart is the main component of the cardiovascular system. The blood vessels which transport
blood away from the heart are called arteries. Blood vessels which transport blood towards the
heart are called veins.

The heart can be modeled as a pump with multiple chambers. It consists of four chambers in which
blood flows. Blood enters the right atrium and passes through the right ventricle. The right
ventricle pumps the blood to the lungs where it becomes oxygenated. The oxygenated blood is
brought back to the heart by the pulmonary veins which enter the left atrium. From the left atrium
blood flows into the left ventricle. The left ventricle pumps the blood to the aorta which will
distribute the oxygenated blood to all parts of the body.
The heart has 4 valves:
• The mitral valve and tricuspid valve, which control blood flow from the atria to the
ventricles
• The aortic valve and pulmonary valve, which control blood flow out of the ventricles

The heartbeat is caused by the heart muscles relaxing and contracting. During this cycle, the period
of relaxation is called diastole and the period of contraction is called systole. When the heart
relaxes, the chambers of the heart fill with blood, and a person's blood pressure decreases. When
the heart contracts, it pushes the blood out of the heart and into the large blood vessels of the
circulatory system. From here, the blood goes to all of the organs and tissues of the body. During
systole, a person's blood pressure increases.

The amount of work for the heart muscle can be calculated from the force, F of the muscle:
∆𝑊 = ∫ 𝐹𝑑𝑟
c) Express the work in terms of pressure 𝑃 on the surface area of the heart chamber and
volume of the pumped blood ∆𝑉 during each compression.
d) Pressure increases from diastolic pressure 𝑃( slowly up to systolic pressure 𝑃) and falls
rapidly back to diastolic pressure after the release of heart muscle. The change in pressure
during this whole process can be depicted from the following figure:

Find an expression pressure 𝑷 as a function of volume 𝑽. Hence find an expression of the

work done 𝚫𝑾 by the heart during this cycle.
e) For the present example, 𝑷𝟎 ≈ 80 𝑚𝑚 𝐻𝑔 and 𝑷𝒎 ≈ 120 𝑚𝑚 𝐻𝑔. An approximate
average frequency of heart beat is 1.4 Hz (84 beats per minute). The efficiency of the heart
as a machine is ≈ 𝟏𝟓%. At each cycle, the heart pumps about 𝟕𝟓 𝒎𝒍 of blood. Find how
much calories of energy are required per day for maintaining heart activity.
The pressure difference ∆𝑃 between two points along a tube generates a flow of liquid. The
volumetric flow rate, 𝐹 (dimension [𝐿, 𝑇 $- ])
𝐹 ∝ ∆𝑃
The continuity law for a flow sates that the flow rate is constant independent of the tube radius.
So, if the tube radius increases, velocity of the fluid decrease and vice versa.
G, find an
f) For a cylindrical tube with radius 𝒓, length 𝑳 and average fluid velocity 𝒗
expression for the volumetric flow rate 𝑭.
g) Does F depend on 𝑳?

There is a close analogy between charge flowing around an electrical circuit and water flowing
through a set of pipes. Consider first a fluid system - this is a closed system, so no fluid is added
to or removed from the system.

The fluid system:

• water flows because a pump maintains a pressure difference

• the volumetric flow rate (how quickly the fluid flows) depends on both the pressure
difference and on the overall resistance to flow in the set of pipes

The electrical system:

• charge flows because a battery maintains a potential difference

• the current (how quickly the charge flows) depends on both the potential difference and on
the overall resistance to flow in the circuit

Therefore, resistance, 𝑅, of the flow, can be defined as

∆/
𝑅 = 0

The resistance for a system of tubes can be calculated from the following relations:
Consider the following artery and vain portion of the human circulatory as shown in the figure:

The flow resistance of 1cm length of each of the left and right coronary arteries is 𝑹𝟏𝟐 = 𝑹𝟏𝟓 =
4 𝑚𝑚 𝐻𝑔 𝑠/𝑐𝑚, . The total flow at point 1 is 𝑭𝟏 = 6 𝑐𝑚, /𝑠. The radius of each coronary, 𝒓 =
0.1𝑐𝑚. At point 2 the left coronary artery splits into two arteries of each 𝒓𝒊 = 0.07𝑐𝑚 with flow
resistance of 𝑹𝟐𝟑 = 𝑹𝟐𝟒 = 16 𝑚𝑚 𝐻𝑔 𝑠/𝑐𝑚, each.
h) Calculate the flow resistance between point 1 and 3/4 throughout the entire artery system.
i) Hence calculate the flow through the left artery system.

The flow F of a fluid is determined by the viscosity of the fluid 𝜂. The viscosity is a temperature
dependent material constant (different for each liquid) which reflects the friction between the fluid
components. The international standard unit for viscosity is poise (1 poise = 1 Pa.s). For laminar
flow (flow without turbulences, particles move all in one direction), the flow through a cylindrical
tube with radius r and length L is described by the Hagen-Poiseuille’s law:
𝜋𝑟 7
𝐹 = Δ𝑃
8𝜂𝐿
The velocity profile for a viscous or laminar flow through cylinder of radius r is shown in the
figure:

As you can see, the velocity maximum is along the center axis of the time, the velocity at the
adjacent tube walls is zero because of friction.
The application of the Hagen-Poiseuille’s law yields then for the flow resistance
8𝜂𝐿
𝑅 =
𝜋𝑟 7
j) In the capillary system of the lung the pressure gradient 𝚫𝑷 ≈ 8 𝑚𝑚𝐻𝑔 and the average
flow rate 𝑭 ≈ 75 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠/𝑠 (this is the average amount of blood the heart pumps per
second). A single capillaric vessel is about 𝟏 𝒄𝒎 long with an average diameter of 𝟐𝟎 𝝁𝒎.
Estimate the number of capillary vessels is the capillary system. Assume that i) all the
capillaries have same diameter ii) all capillaries are parallel.

If the velocity of a fluid increases above a critical velocity the laminar flow becomes turbulent.
For this case, the linear relation between pressure gradient (Δ𝑃) and flow (𝐹) becomes invalid
because additional local pressure differences are caused by turbulences.
The critical velocity for the turbulent flow in a tube depends on the viscosity 𝜂, the density 𝜌, and
the average velocity 𝑣̅ of the fluid as well as on the radius 𝑟 of the tube. The flow condition of a
fluid is characterized by Reynold’s number 𝑁8 (a dimensionless quantity), which is defined by:
2𝑟𝜌𝑣̅
𝑁8 =
𝜂
The flow will be laminar if the Reynold’s number is less than 2000, it will be turbulent if the
Reynold’s number is greater than 3000. Between these numbers, the flow conditions are unstable
and may alter. For turbulent flow, the transport mechanism is less efficient and more energy is
required for the heart. During exercises, the amount of blood pumped by the heart increases by a
factor of three to five. This increases the average blood velocity by the same factor. Critical values
for the Reynold’s number will be reached even for the blood flow in the main arteries which will
cause turbulences.

k) Determine whether the blood flow in the body will be laminar or turbulent if the aorta
radius gets reduced by 𝟐𝟎% (from 𝑟 = 𝟏𝒄𝒎 to 𝟎. 𝟖𝒄𝒎).
Given blood flow, 𝑭 = 95 𝑚𝑙/𝑠, viscosity of the blood, 𝜂 = 4 × 10$, 𝑃𝑎. 𝑠.
You can neglect the minor change in the blood flow during the process.
(Fun fact: For average velocity of 30cm/s, the Reynold’s number is 1590 and the flow is
laminar. But during the opening of aortic valve, momentarily a peak velocity of 75cm/s
can be reached, which causes the Reynold’s number in the aorta to reach 3975. Critical
conditions for turbulences are reached, and this is the origin for heart sound heard with
stethoscope)
In the above figure, among A and B graphs, one is for normal artery and the other is for obstructed
artery. (see the following figure)

Both of these graphs have two segments, a and b, one is for laminar flow other is for turbulent
flow. It is well known that turbulent flow is less efficient than the laminar flow as more work is
required for the heart.
From the above information, you have to figure out (with proper reasoning and labelling):
l) Between a & b, which region is for laminar flow and which one is for turbulent flow
m) Between A & B, which graph is for normal artery and which one is for obstructed artery