Answer Week#1 (for more details about the question, click here)
“My heart is beating, keeps on repeating…”
The perception of our heartbeat is steeped in not just “popular” songs of choice, but also science.
The student shout-out for this week is up on YouTube. Congratulations, Pallavi!
Physically, we know that our hearts beat regularly. It repeats itself after a certain period of time and can be understood to be an example of periodic motion. The beating of the heart can also be connected to rhythm- it is "life's silent metronome" (Farkash, n.d.). In fact, arrhythmias occur when the rhythm of our heart is irregular (NHLBI, 2022a). A pacemaker is used to fix this which uses electrical signals to regulate our heartbeat (NHLBI, 2022a). Iron Man engineered a neat solution to fix his heart problems as well. Pretty cool applications of physics if you ask me.
Biologically, the heart can beat because it is made up of cardiac muscle cells or the myocardium which allows the heart to contract and actually pump blood, which in turn generates the heartbeat (NHLBI, 2022b). This contraction happens in the atria and ventricles, where deoxygenated blood enters the heart through veins called the superior and inferior vena cava, and oxygenated blood leaves the heart using the artery known as the aorta (NHLBI, 2022c). During this process, our hearts produce the typical lub-dub sound (NHLBI, 2022b). The brain, specifically the medulla oblongata, regulates the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) activity and ensures that our hearts keep beating (“Medulla Oblongata”, 2022).
However, there happen instances when our hearts fail to beat and to remedy this situation, we can use certain chemicals in the form of hormones. Epinephrine, a catecholamine, can be used to resuscitate the heart by increasing blood pressure in the atria (Callaway, 2013). Catecholamines consist of a benzene ring containing two -OH groups, an intermediate carbon chain, and a terminal -NH2 group. These hormones are produced by the adrenal glands but they can also be manufactured artificially. To slow the heart rate, the hormone acetylcholine is used (“Heart Rate”, n.d.).
But what is the heart rate? It is actually the number of times our heart beats in a minute. There is maths in our veins! Normally, our hearts beat about 60 to 100 times per minute. If you are an athlete or lead an active lifestyle, your resting heart rate is more likely to be lower (to quote Claire, “I run five miles a day. I have a resting heart rate of 48”- Modern Family, S1 Ep 6), even though you can feel your heartbeat pumping every time you get up on that treadmill. Your heartbeats quicken during cardio-heavy exercises because your muscles at work need sufficient oxygen and nutrients, which are provided by the blood that is being pumped by your heart. The more you train, the stronger your heart muscles become and thus are able to pump higher volumes of blood, during exercise and at rest (Chertoff, 2023). Therefore, athletes have a lower resting heart rate.
I hope you learned a lot about the heartbeat (and the associated physics, chemistry, biology, and maths) today, and how it is literally connected to everything. My heart is beating, keeps on repeating…LEARN SOME MORE.
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Watch the struggles of XIIth standard students
To learn more about the physical, biological, chemical, and mathematical concepts that I have mentioned above, you can either read the blogs and articles that have been mentioned in the references or you can choose to watch these videos-
Your Heart Rhythm by Cleveland Clinic
Circulatory System | Pulmonary Circulation by Ninja Nerd
What Happens If You Inject Adrenaline? by What Happens If?
How To Check Your Heart Rate by University of California Television (UCTV)
Yes, yes, my dear students, I did make you a PLAYLIST on YouTube with these additional videos as well. You can also find it n my channel page.
Share this article with people who might be interested to know more about this. Check out my forum for more such interesting questions and answers- https://www.sbtutorial.in/forum
Keep learning, and keep thriving!
References:
Farkash, C. (n.d.). A Sense of Rhythm. Sensory Studies. http://www.sensorystudies.org/a-sense-of-rhythm
NHLBI. (2022a). What Are Pacemakers? NIH. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/pacemakers
NHLBI. (2022b). How the Heart Beats. NIH. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/heart/heart-beats
NHLBI. (2022c). How Blood Flows through the Heart. NIH. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/heart/blood-flow
Medulla Oblongata. (2022). Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/23001-medulla-oblongata
Callaway, C. W. (2013). Epinephrine for cardiac arrest. Current Opinion in Cardiology, 28(1), 36-42. doi: 10.1097/HCO.0b013e32835b0979.
“Heart Rate”. (n.d.). UC Davis Health. https://health.ucdavis.edu/sports-medicine/resources/heart-rate
Chertoff, J. (2023, June 26). Why Do Athletes Have a Lower Resting Heart Rate? Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/athlete-heart-rate
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