Volume of a Human Heart
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| Bibliographic Entry | Result (w/surrounding text) |
Standardized Result |
|---|---|---|
| Curtis, Helena. Biology: 5th Edition. New York: Worth, 1989: 756. | "Cardiac output = 72 beats per minute × 0.07 liters of blood per beat." | 280 cm3 |
| "Heart." Encyclopedia Americana. Chicago: Grolier, 1999. | "Each of the four chambers of an average sized human heart holds about 2.5 ounces of blood." | 296 cm3 |
| Stephen Seiler. Myocardial Adaptation to Training. 1996. | "At rest, the stroke volume and resting heart rate of an average person can be remembered easily as approximately 70 ml/beat and 70 beats/minute. | 280 cm3 |
| Stroke Volume. University of Waterloo. 9 November, 1999. | "SV [Stroke Volume} for an average person at rest: Male~70 ml/beat and female~60 ml/beat" | 240–280 cm3 |
| Richard E. Klabunde. Regulation of Stroke Volume. 18 December 2000. | "The difference in these 2 volumes, 70 ml represents the SV [Stroke Volume]" | 280 cm3 |
The heart is the most important organ in our body. It is located slightly to the left behind the lower part of the breastbone and it is about the size of an adult fist. It is about 13 centimeters long and 9 centimeters broad. The heart has 4 main chambers through which the blood passes: right atrium, left atrium, right ventricle and left ventricle. The oxygen filled blood enters the left auricle, it's pumped to the left ventricle and is pumped to the body through the aorta. The right auricle receives deoxygenated blood from the body, the blood is pumped to the right ventricle, which is pumped to the lungs to refill with oxygen. Each chamber holds about 70 ml of blood. The stroke volume is the volume of blood pumped through and out of the heart with each heartbeat. The total volume of the heart is therefore approximately 4 times that value, or 280 ml.
The heart is made of relatively strong muscle. The force with which the heart contracts is approximately the force you would need to squeeze a tennis ball. Since the left ventricle has to pump blood to the rest of the body, its walls are relatively thick, while the walls of the atria are relatively thin. The volume of blood in human body is nearly 5 liters. The heart pumps about 280 liters in one hour, 7200 liters in 24 hours, or 2,688,000 liters per year!
Vitaliy Shchupak -- 2001
| Bibliographic Entry | Result (w/surrounding text) |
Standardized Result |
|---|---|---|
| Eisner, Michael, & Eric J.Topol. Cleveland Clinic Heart Book. New York: Hyperion, 2000: 5. | "With each beat, the heart muscle expands and contracts, sending 2 to 3 ounces of blood through the vascular system." | 59–89 cm3 per beat. |
| Clayman, Charles. The Human Body. London: Dorling Kindersley Limited, 1995: 105. | "The full circuit around the lungs and body takes only approximately one minute when the body is at rest, the heart pumps about 5 to 7 quarts of blood a minute." | 4730–6620 cm3 per minute. |
| The Human Heart: A Living Pump. US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Public Health Service National Institutes of Health, 30 May 2000. | "While you rest or sleep, your heart pumps about 2 1/2 ounces (70 milliliters) of blood with each beat." | 70 cm3 per beat. |
| Debakey, Michael, & Antonio M. Gotto, Jr. The New Living Heart. Boston: Adams Media Corporation, 1997: 23. | "The normal heart rate of 70 beats per minute pumps little more than 2 1/2 fluid ounces per stroke, which adds up to 6 quarts of output per minute." | 70 cm3 per beat 5680 cm3 per minute. |
| Cardiac Output. Encyclopedia Britannica Article, 30 May 2000. | "In the healthy human adult, resting (or basal) output is estimated to be slightly over 5 liters per minute." | 5000 cm3 per minute. |
Ancient people thought that the heart controlled a person's emotions, but it is really just a muscle that pumps blood throughout the body. The size of the heart is about the size of a person's fist. In an average man, the heart weights about 340 grams or 12 ounces, it is a little less in women.
The heart pumps oxygen filled blood to the body and pumps carbon dioxide filled blood to the lungs. Carbon dioxide filled blood enters the superior and inferior vena cava and enters the right atrium. The blood moves to the right ventricle and it is pumped to the lungs through the pulmonary artery to receive oxygen. The blood then returns to the left atrium of the heart through the pulmonary vein rich with oxygen. It goes to the left ventricle and pumps it to the aorta then to the rest of the body.
The atria have thin walls because they receive blood and don't pump the blood out of the heart, the ventricles have thick walls because it pump blood out of the heart and into the body or lungs. The ventricles are stronger then the atria. The septum is a wall that separates the heart into two sides, it is two pumps in one.
The blood travels around the body and back to the heart in about one minute if the person is at rest. The heart beats 70 times a minute, with each beat the heart pumps 60 to 90 mililiters (2 to 3 ounces) of blood out of the heart. It can move 5 to 7 liters of blood in one minute and 7600 liters (2000 gallons) per day. In a lifetime, it beats over 2.5 billion times and pumps over 200 million liters of blood. Infants have slightly faster heart beat than an average person, their heart beats 120 times per minute. Physical activities will also increase the heart rate.
The heart is the most important muscle in the human body, it works 24 hours a day. It keeps us alive by pumping oxygen rich blood to the whole body. People can keep their heart healthy by exercising regularly.
Alan Chan -- 2001