How long does it take for an individual blood cell to make a complete circuit of the body?
Question #61292. Asked by pholberton.
gmackematix
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gmackematix 22 year member
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Er...what are you calling a "complete circuit"?
Blood is pumped out of the heart and from there it takes different times to reach its destination and return to the heart depending on where that portion of blod is pumped to.
That which is pumped into the coronary artery will supply the heart tissues with blood so will return to the heart quickly.
Blood that is pumped to the hands takes about 28 seconds to do a return journey according to one site I have seen. Blood flowing to the feet will probably take a bit longer as it is flowing through wider arteries and veins and so will be travelling more slowly.
Clearly, if the body is relaxed the heart will pump more slowly and the blood will return less quickly than if the body is excited and the pulse is faster.
