National 4 Science
Human Health
Pulse
Pulse
 Learning intentions:
 What is pulse?
 Where in the body can pulse be felt?
 What low tech instruments can be used to measure
pulse rate?
 What high tech instruments can be used to measure
pulse rate?
 How can pulse be used as an indicator of health?
What is pulse?
 Pulse is caused by the swelling of the arteries as
blood is pushed through them
 Animation
Where in the body can pulse be felt?
 There are many places
that pulse can be felt as
can be seen in the
diagram
 You only need to know
three:
 Neck
 Wrist
 Temple
What low tech instruments can be
used to measure pulse rate?
 Stopwatch and finger are
low tech method of
measuring pulse rate
 Find pulse
 Count beats for 10
seconds
 Multiply by 6
 Number is pulse in beats
per minute
What high tech instruments can be
used to measure pulse rate?
 A pulsometer or heart
rate monitor are high
tech methods of
measuring pulse rate
Measuring your pulse rate
 Measure your pulse rate when sitting and when
standing three times in order to calculate an average
 What difference is there between the two values?
 Why do you think there is this difference?
Pulse rate as indicator of health
 Pulse rate is an indicator of health
 In order to find out how healthy a person is their
pulse rate is measured at rest and after exercise
 The following have an effect on pulse rate and
therefore health:




Body size
Age
Gender
Fitness
How do the factors affect pulse rate?
 Body size
 As body size increases pulse rate increases because heart is
working harder
 Age
 Pulse rate is lower in adults than in children as they are less
active
 Gender
 Pulse rate is slightly higher in women than men
 Fitness
 As a person increases in fitness their pulse rate decreases
because their heart muscle is bigger therefore more effective
at pumping blood around the body
 A very high pulse rate will eventually lead to heart disease