A DC current of 60 mA can cause paralysis of the body's respiratory muscles and hence interfere with breathing, but only 15 mA (rms) of AC current will do the same thing. Suppose a person is working with electrical power lines on a warm humid day and therefore has a low body resistance of 1000 OHMS. What DC and AC (amplitude and rms) potentials would it take to cause respiratory paralysis?

Question

Physics

Timothy Cisneros

22 July, 19:36

A DC current of 60 mA can cause paralysis of the body's respiratory muscles and hence interfere with breathing, but only 15 mA (rms) of AC current will do the same thing. Suppose a person is working with electrical power lines on a warm humid day and therefore has a low body resistance of 1000 OHMS. What DC and AC (amplitude and rms) potentials would it take to cause respiratory paralysis?

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Answers (1)

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Rebecca Lowery · Answer 1

DC: 60V

AC: 15Vrms (21.2V amplitude)

Explanation:

Since we know the current values for each case, we can calculate voltage in both scenarios.

For DC voltage:

Vdc = Idc * R = 60mA * 1000 Ohms = 60Vdc

For AC voltage:

Vac = Iac * R = 15mA * 1000 Ohms = 15 Vac (rms) the amplitude of this signal would be Vmax = 15Vac * 1.414 = 21.2V