Now try feeling for a “pulse” from a vein on the back of your forearm, the side opposite where you took your arterial pulse, so that you do not confuse the two. To find a vein, let your left arm hang by your side and relax all of the muscles in that arm. After about 20-30 seconds, your veins should be more pronounced. Place the first two fingers of your right hand on one of the larger veins to mark that spot, then place your left arm in your lap (palm down) as you take the “pulse” of this vein with the same pressure and posture as you did with the artery. What did you feel? Explain any differences between the artery and the vein, in terms of what you know about the circulatory system and how blood pressure changes after it passes through the capillary beds.
Now try feeling for a “pulse” from a vein on the back of your forearm, the side opposite where you took your arterial pulse, so that you do not confuse the two. To find a vein, let your left arm hang by your side and relax all of the muscles in that arm. After about 20-30 seconds, your veins should be more pronounced. Place the first two fingers of your right hand on one of the larger veins to mark that spot, then place your left arm in your lap (palm down) as you take the “pulse” of this vein with the same pressure and posture as you did with the artery.
What did you feel? Explain any differences between the artery and the vein, in terms of what you know about the circulatory system and how blood pressure changes after it passes through the capillary beds.
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