Averaged Over a Few Heartbeats, Venous Return is ________ Cardiac

Question

Averaged over a few heartbeats, venous return is ________ cardiac output.
A) much higher than
B) somewhat higher than
C) equal to
D) somewhat lower than
E) much lower than

Accepted Answer

Venous return is the amount of blood returning to the right atrium each minute, while cardiac output is the amount of blood pumped out of the heart each minute. As the two are in a closed system and must balance each other out, on average, venous return must be equal to cardiac output.