What is the principal blood vessel through which blood leaves the heart in order to circulate around the body?
the pulmonary artery
the superior vena cava
the pulmonary vein
aorta
Example 12.3 Calculating Flow Speed and Vessel Diameter: Branching in the Cardiovascular System The aorta is the principal blood vessel through which blood leaves the heart in order to circulate around the body. (a) Calculate the average speed of the blood in the aorta if the flow rate is 5.0 L/min. The aorta has a radius of 10 mm. (b) Blood also flows through smaller blood vessels known as capillaries. When the rate of blood flow in the aorta is 5.0 L/min, the speed of blood in the capillaries is about 0.33 mm/s. Given that the average diameter of a capillary is 8.0 µm , calculate the number of capillaries in the blood circulatory system. Strategy We can use.