Dimensional analysis does not determine a mass exponent for metabolic scaling
- 1 July 1987
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physiological Society in American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology
- Vol. 253 (1) , R195-R199
- https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.1987.253.1.r195
Abstract
In several recent article, Heusner used dimensional reasoning to derive important biological conclusions regarding the scaling of metabolism with body mass [Respir. Physiol. 48: 13-25, 1982; J. Appl. Physiol. 54: 867-873, 1983; Am. J. Physiol. 246 (Regulatory Integrative Comp. Physiol. 15): R839-R845, 1984]. We demonstrate errors in the derivation and show that dimensional analysis, correctly applied, not only fails to determine the mass scaling exponent but also fails to constrain the relationship to a power law at all.Keywords
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