A health magazine reported that physicians measured 100 adults’ blood pressure using two different arm positions: parallel to the body (along the side) and perpendicular to the body (straight out). Readings in the parallel position were up to 10 percent higher than those in the perpendicular position, regardless of whether the patient was standing, sitting, or lying down. Explain the possible cause for the difference.
Fluid Pressure
The term fluid pressure is coined as, the measurement of the force per unit area of a given surface of a closed container. It is a branch of physics that helps to study the properties of fluid under various conditions of force.
Gauge Pressure
Pressure is the physical force acting per unit area on a body; the applied force is perpendicular to the surface of the object per unit area. The air around us at sea level exerts a pressure (atmospheric pressure) of about 14.7 psi but this doesn’t seem to bother anyone as the bodily fluids are constantly pushing outwards with the same force but if one swims down into the ocean a few feet below the surface one can notice the difference, there is increased pressure on the eardrum, this is due to an increase in hydrostatic pressure.
A health magazine reported that physicians measured
100 adults’ blood pressure using two different arm
positions: parallel to the body (along the side) and perpendicular
to the body (straight out). Readings in the parallel
position were up to 10 percent higher than those in the
perpendicular position, regardless of whether the patient was
standing, sitting, or lying down. Explain the possible cause
for the difference.
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