Occasionally, the electric circuit that produces a coordinated pumping of blood from the four chambers of the heart becomes disturbed. Ventricular fibrillation can occur-random muscle contractions that produce little or no blood pumping. To stop the fibrillation, two defibrillator pads are placed on the chest and a large current (about 20 amps) is sent through the heart, restarting its normal rhythmic pattern. The current lasts 5 ms and transfers 200 J of electric energy to the body. Find the potential difference between the defibrillator pads. Express your answer with the appropriate units.

Question

Thaddeus Warner

Physics

12 July, 01:19

Occasionally, the electric circuit that produces a coordinated pumping of blood from the four chambers of the heart becomes disturbed. Ventricular fibrillation can occur-random muscle contractions that produce little or no blood pumping. To stop the fibrillation, two defibrillator pads are placed on the chest and a large current (about 20 amps) is sent through the heart, restarting its normal rhythmic pattern. The current lasts 5 ms and transfers 200 J of electric energy to the body. Find the potential difference between the defibrillator pads. Express your answer with the appropriate units.

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Lana Hatfield · Answer 1

potential difference between the defibrillator pads = 2000 V

Explanation:

We are given;

Current; I = 20A

Time; t = 5 m. s = 5 x 10^ (-3) s

Electrical energy; W = 200 J

Now let's find the value of the electric charge from the formula;.

q = It

Where q is charge, I is current and t is time.

Thus; q = 20 x 5 x 10^ (-3)

q = 0.1 C

Now, the potential difference between the defibrillator pads would be calculated from;

V = W/q

Where V is potential difference and W and q are as stated earlier.

Plugging in the relevant values gotten earlier, we have;

V = 200/0.1

V = 2000 V