High School

Your subject weighs 71.0 kg, is 62.4 percent water, and has a hematocrit of 38.6 percent. What is their approximate blood volume?

Answer :

The blood volume of a subject who weighs 71.0 kg is approximately calculated as 5.68 liters, using the rule of thumb that blood constitutes about 8 percent of an adult's body weight.

Calculating Blood Volume

To estimate the blood volume of the subject who weighs 71.0 kg, we need to apply the information that blood constitutes approximately 8 percent of adult body weight. Therefore, the blood volume can be calculated by taking 8 percent of the subject's body weight.

Here's the calculation step-by-step:

  1. Calculate total body weight in kilograms: 71.0 kg.
  2. Multiply the body weight by the percentage of body weight that is blood: 71.0 kg times 0.08 = 5.68 liters.
  3. The subject's blood volume is approximately 5.68 liters.

This calculation is based on the average blood volume percentage and does not take the subject's gender or hematocrit level into account. However, for more personalized estimates, these factors would typically be considered.