Cardiac output is equal to which of the following?

Cardiac output is equal to which of the following?

• A. Stroke Volume
• B. Heart Rate
• C. Stroke Volume x Heart Rate
• D. Blood Pressure

Answer: (C)

Cardiac output is the amount of blood the heart pumps per minute, and it depends on two things: how much blood is ejected with each beat (stroke volume) and how many beats occur each minute (heart rate). Multiply these two together to get cardiac output, with units of mL per minute (or L per minute). For example, if each beat ejects about 70 mL and the heart beats 72 times per minute, CO ≈ 70 × 72 = 5040 mL/min (about 5 L/min). This shows why the product of stroke volume and heart rate gives cardiac output. Stroke volume alone is the amount per beat, heart rate alone is how often per minute, and blood pressure is the pressure the heart generates, not the volume pumped per minute.

Cardiac output is the amount of blood the heart pumps per minute, and it depends on two things: how much blood is ejected with each beat (stroke volume) and how many beats occur each minute (heart rate). Multiply these two together to get cardiac output, with units of mL per minute (or L per minute). For example, if each beat ejects about 70 mL and the heart beats 72 times per minute, CO ≈ 70 × 72 = 5040 mL/min (about 5 L/min). This shows why the product of stroke volume and heart rate gives cardiac output. Stroke volume alone is the amount per beat, heart rate alone is how often per minute, and blood pressure is the pressure the heart generates, not the volume pumped per minute.