1981/10/01 by T F Sherman · 4 citations
Environmental Science · #Groundwater and Watershed Analysis
paper · pdf · doi:10.1085/jgp.78.4.431
openalex publication_date 1981/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/10
A large part of the branching vasculature of the mammalian circulatory and respiratory systems obeys Murray's law, which states that the cube of the radius of a parent vessel equals the sum of the cubes of the radii of the daughters. Where this law is obeyed, a functional relationship exists between vessel radius and volumetric flow, average linear velocity of flow, velocity profile, vessel-wall shear stress, Reynolds number, and pressure gradient in individual vessels. In homogeneous, full-flow sets of vessels, a relation is also established between vessel radius and the conductance, resistance, and cross-sectional area of a full-flow set.