Question regarding blood pressure in heart/arteries/capillaries

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shweetz911

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I was doing e-mcat #7 and the question regarding which would have the lowest blood pressure. The choices were A) Heart B) Arteries C) Arteriole and D) Capillaries. I got the question right because I knew it from reading but I was hesitating cause I remembered that Pressure equals force divided by area. Wouldn't capillaries, the lowest area have the highest pressure? Or is the diminishing force a stronger influence on the pressure. Or am I just being an idiot...

Thanks for the help!

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They are the smallest, but the pressure from the heart spreads to all capillaries - so you take the total cross sectional area of all capillaries into account.
 
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They are the smallest, but the pressure from the heart spreads to all capillaries - so you take the total cross sectional area of all capillaries into account.
Ah that makes sense. Thanks for the help!
 
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You have to remember in order for there to be flow there must be a pressure gradient. Therefore, as you move along in the circulation the pressure decreases all the way back to the right atrium.
 
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