Answer to Question #202174 in Electricity and Magnetism for Tarik

Question

While taking a bath, a person touches the metal case of a radio. The path through the person to the drainpipe and ground has a resistance of  4000  Ω  .  What is the smallest voltage on the case of the radio that could cause ventricular fibrillation? Estimate  what was the power dissipated in the body during the  impact?

Answer 1

As we know, the fibrillation begins at AC currents of 30 mA. So, the voltage is

$$V=IR=120\text V.$$

The power that corresponds to this value is

$$P=I^2R=3.6\text W.$$