Question

During exercise, your cardiac output can increase dramatically in order to meet the metabolic demands of your tissues. if your heart rate increased to 150 beats per minute and the volume of blood pumped per beat is 75 ml, what is your cardiac output?

Answer 1

Cardiac output (CO) is the total volume of blood flow through systemic circulation or pulmonary circulation per unit time. Values for cardiac output are usually denoted as Litre per minutes (L/min).

As given in the question above, Heart rate = 150 beats per minute. Stroke volume (volume of blood pumped per beat) = 75 ml.

Cardiac output (CO) = heart rate X stroke volume

                           CO = 150 X 75

                           CO = 11250ml/min

                           CO = 11.25L/min

Therefore, the Cardiac output is 11.25L/min.