poiseuille law

Main Entry: Poi·seuille's law
Pronunciation: pwä-'z&(r)z-, -'zwEz-, -'z&-Ez-
Function: noun
: a statement in physics: the velocity of thesteady flow of a fluid through a narrow tube (as a blood vessel or a catheter) varies directly as the pressure and the fourth power of the radius of the tube and inversely as the length of the tube andthe coefficient of viscosity
Poiáseuille /pwo-z[oe]y,/ Jean–Léonard–Marie (1797–1869), French physiologist and physician. Poiseuille is bestknown for his research on the physiology of the circulation of blood through the arteries. He published his research in an 1828 dissertation in which he demonstrated that blood pressure rises and fallson expiration and inspiration. His research also revealed that the dilation of an artery at each heartbeat was about 1/23 of normal. His interest in blood circulation led him to study the flow rates ofother fluids. In 1840 he formulated the law regarding the flow rate for the laminar flow of fluids in circular tubes. In 1847 he published the results of further experiments using ether and mercury.Gotthilf Hagen, a German hydraulic engineer, discovered Poiseuille's law independently in 1839.

Poiseuille's law Poi·seuille's law (pwä-zɶ'yēz)
n.
The principle that the volume of a homogeneous fluid passing per unit time through a capillary tube is directly proportional to the pressure difference between its ends and to the fourth power of its internal radius, and inversely proportional to its length and to the viscosity of the fluid.