An artery has lost 8% of its diameter due to plaque build up.Determine the percentage reduction in blood flow

The reduction in blood flow is not directly proportional to the reduction in diameter. It's actually related to the cross-sectional area of the artery.

1. First, we need to understand that the cross-sectional area of the artery is given by the formula for the area of a circle, which is πr², where r is the radius of the artery.

2. If the artery has lost 8% of its diameter, it has also lost 8% of its radius (since radius = diameter/2).

3. Now, we need to calculate the reduction in the cross-sectional area. If the radius has been reduced by 8%, the new radius is 92% of the original, or 0.92r.

4. Substituting this into the formula for the area of a circle gives us the new area as π(0.92r)² = 0.8464πr².

5. This means the new area is 84.64% of the original area.

6. Therefore, the reduction in the cross-sectional area (and thus the reduction in blood flow, assuming blood flow is proportional to cross-sectional area) is 100% - 84.64% = 15.36%.

So, the blood flow is reduced by approximately 15.36%.