How Long Would It Take A Glass Of Blood To Turn Into A Jelly Blob?

[joko]

weird question i know.

years ago i has a bad nose bleed and had no choice but to let it fill a glass.

i put the glass down and when i went back to it, it had congealed completely and was like a rounded jelly blob, wobbling around in the glass.

it was kind of the texture of those fruit jelly cube packets, before you make it with boiling water.

im just wondering how long it would have taken for it to turn into that state?

i know blood in a wound will start to congeal in about 30 seconds, but this was about quarter of a pint in a half pint glass, so most of the blood was not 'touching' the air, like it would be if falling from a wound, so i assume it'd take much longer ...?

anyone know?

thanks :)

[Sqad]

Less than a minute.

[andy-hughes]

I am no expert obviously, but since the body needs escaping blood to congeal as a matter or urgency for survival reasons, logic suggests that the process is going to kick in sooner rather than later.

[eve1974]

odd but... INTERESTING question!

[Vagus]

I love questions like this, questions you don’t even know you need to ask but find the answers really interesting :)

[joko]

Interesting, i thought since it was not spread out, exposed to air, it'd take a bit longer.
But then I suppose each drop was exposed to air as it fell.

But, it took longer than a minute to fill the glass that full, i'm sure, and it wasnt showing any signs of turning into a jelly blob then?

i know the process starts almost immediately the blood hits the air, but this blob was properly 'solid'

would it congeal from the outside in?
a bit like a boiled egg cooks. and still be runny inside for a while?

or is the blood 'fully' activated when it drop through the air and will congeal at the same rate throughout?

[joko]

hang on, how do people mop up large amounts of spilled blood then? like with cloths etc?
wouldnt it just be like jelly chunks?

couldnt you 'peel' it up off the floor like peeling off a face mask?

[joko]

andy, i wonder if once it has clearly left the wound - such as in a glass - it doesnt congeal so fast then?
is there somethign else released in wounds that 'tells' the blood it is still in an important place in the wound site and to congeal quickly?

[Sqad]

My knowledge of haematology is basic but I never knew that the normal clotting mechanism needed air, as it will clot ina vacuum.
I stand to be corrected.

[joko]

sqad - i dont know if its air that triggers it, but it clots as soon as it hits air, right?
otherwise it could clot inside us, so something must trigger it?
maybe the clear, yellowy liquid that comes out of wounds etc?

i mean i was sitting with the glass, filling it quarter way up, drip by drip, and it was still very much liquid when the bleeding stopped.

i went back to the glass a short while later - like 20-30 minutes maybe (total guess) and it was like this, a self contained jelly blob, not stuck to the sides, or mushy, but like a rounded blob, with a small amount of wetness to it.
when i shook the glass it just slid around

[Sqad]

Joko....there are many mechanism to bring about clotting in the body and bleeding of wounds 2 of which are the bleeding and clotting times, both different and separate mechanisms.
Your OP has been answered.

[Peter Pedant]

well a minute from sqad
I thought over 4 minutes
one site has 25 s which strikes me as being quick
and we have
Normal value of clotting time is 2-8 minutes.

so it depends on what else ( snot - bits of brain etc) is with the blood and activates the extrinsic system

sqad forgot his leccy on coagulation in 1896 where the lecturers habitually started with - Pepys describes an experiment after a good dindins - where they bled out a dog !
and found the blood at the end clotted gaster than the blood taken at the beginning

too much detail

[sanmac]

Sqad, don't forget PT and PTT tests, although those tests might have different names nowadays. Remember the pricking of the ear-lobe with a lancet and using a piece of filter paper to catch the blood WITHOUT touching the ear-lobe with the paper?:)

[Peter Pedant]

yeah that one is 2 to 8 mins
and because you do it on the skin
has internal triggers

slaney is a haem and would know - but I note she hasnt posted since er 2016

[joko]

err ... no sqad - no it hasnt - nowhere near - you think saying 'under a minute' is remotely answering the OP?
did you even read it?

this is not a wound. this is not instant clotting on an injury - this is a glass of blood - that - as i have already said twice now - was still liquid well over a minute later.
it was liquid for at least as long as it takes to fill a quarter pint glass drip by drip
you say your knowledge is limited - so if you dont know the answer, just dont answer, and leave the discussion to others

[Sqad]

Thanks John I will willingly leave the discussion to the better qualified as you suggested.

[sanmac]

Joko, there is really no answer to your question. How big was the glass containing the blood, and what was the ambient temperature? The next time you get blood taken and you see the phlebotomist use a red-topped Vacutainer tube ask him/her how long it will take the blood to clot. These tubes contain about 3-5mls of blood and contain no anti-coagulant since the tests will be done on the serum and not the whole-blood. Your small blood sample will be clotted within about 15 to 20 minutes I would suspect.

[joko]

thanks sanmac.
its not so much that particular glass i want to know about - i just wanted a general, average length of time it'd take blood to turn into a jelly blob
but thanks 15-20 mins is a good enough estimate for me.

[Old_Geezer]

You could always try an experiment.

[Peter Pedant]

expt
clean glass den
and polish with alcohol and let evaporate
( ones glass must be cleano for an expt such as this!)

[Peter Pedant]

come here boy! come here puppy dog
oh god - you mean experiment on yourself
no thanks they dont even do that in these days of covid !