Blood pressure is usually reported in millimeters of mercury (mmHg) or the height of a column of mercury producing the same pressure value. Typical values for an adult human are 130/80; the first value is the systolic pressure, during the contraction of the ventricles of the heart, and the second is the diastolic pressure, during the contraction of the auricles of the heart. The head of an adult male giraffe is 6.2 m above the ground; the giraffe's heart is 2.3 m above the ground. What is the minimum systolic pressure (in mmHg) required at the heart to drive blood to the head (neglect the additional pressure required to overcome the effects of viscosity)? The density of giraffe blood is 1.00 g/cm3, and that of mercury is 13.6 g/cm3.

Height(head)-height(heart)x1000/13.6

To determine the minimum systolic pressure required at the giraffe's heart to drive blood to its head, we can use the concept of hydrostatic pressure. The hydrostatic pressure is given by the equation:

P = ρ * g * h

Where:
P is the pressure,
ρ is the density of the fluid,
g is the acceleration due to gravity, and
h is the height or depth of the fluid.

In this case, we can consider the blood in the giraffe's body to be the fluid, and we need to find the minimum pressure required at the heart.

Given data:
Density of giraffe blood (ρblood) = 1.00 g/cm^3
Density of mercury (ρmercury) = 13.6 g/cm^3
Height of the giraffe's head (hhead) = 6.2 m
Height of the giraffe's heart above the ground (hheart) = 2.3 m

First, let's convert the density of giraffe blood to kg/m^3 to have consistent units:
ρblood = 1.00 * 1000 kg/m^3 (since 1 g/cm^3 = 1000 kg/m^3)

Next, let's calculate the pressure exerted by the column of blood in the giraffe's head (Ph):
Ph = ρblood * g * hhead

Now, let's calculate the pressure exerted by the column of mercury that would produce the same pressure as Ph (Pmercury):
Pmercury = ρmercury * g * hmercury

Since we are neglecting the additional pressure required to overcome the effects of viscosity, Pmercury should be equal to the minimum systolic pressure at the heart.

Finally, we can solve for Pmercury, which will give us the minimum systolic pressure required:

Pmercury = Ph = ρblood * g * hhead

Let's substitute the given values into the equation and calculate the minimum systolic pressure in mmHg.