Question

The relatively high resistivity of dry skin, about 1 × 106 O·m, can safely limit the flow of current into deeper tissues of the body. Suppose an electrical worker places his palm on an instrument whose metal case is accidentally connected to a high voltage. The skin of the palm is about 1.5 mm thick. Estimate the area of skin on the worker’s palm that would contact a flat panel, then calculate the approximate resistance of the skin of the palm.

Answer 1

The area is
`A = 0.015 \ m^2`

The resistance is
`R =  1.0 *10^(5) \ \Omega`

Step-by-step explanation:

From the question we are told that

The relativity of dry skin is
`\rho = 1 * 10^6\ \Omega\cdot m`

The thickness of the skin is
`d = 1.5 \ mm = 1.5 *10^(-3) \ m`

Generally the area of a flat palm with length = 0.10 m and breath b = 0.15 m is mathematically represented as

`A = d * L`

`A = 0.10 * 0.15`

`A = 0.015 \ m^2`

Generally the resistance is mathematically represented as

`R = (\rho * d)/( A )`

=>
`R =  ( 1.0 *10^(6) *   1.5*10^(-3))/( 0.015  )`

=>
`R = 1.0 *10^(5) \ \Omega`