Consider the figure. 1. A defibrillator sends a 6.05 A current through the chest

Question

Consider the figure.

1. A defibrillator sends a 6.05 A current through the chest of a patient by applying a 10,900 V potential as in the figure. What is the resistance of the path (in k)?

2. The defibrillator paddles make contact with the patient through a conducting gel that greatly reduces the path resistance. Discuss the difficulties that would ensue if a larger voltage were used to produce the same current through the patient, but with the path having perhaps 50 times the resistance. (Hint: The current must be about the same, so a higher voltage would imply greater power. Use this equation for power: P = I2R.)

Explanation / Answer

1. resistance = V/I = 10900 / 6.05 = 1801.6 ohm

2. If a 50 times larger resistance existed, keeping the current about the same, the power would be increased by a factor of about 50 (based on the equation P=I2RP=I2R ), causing much more energy to be transferred to the skin, which could cause serious burns. The gel used reduces the resistance, and therefore reduces the power transferred to the skin.

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