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Electric Current and Circuits Example Problems with

Solutions
Physics 2 (University of South Alabama)

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Electric Current and Circuits: Example Problems with Solutions

Current
1. (a) A defibrillator sends a 6.00-A current through the chest of a patient by applying a 10,000-
V potential as in the figure below. What is the resistance of the path?
(b) 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.)

Solution I  6.00 A
(a) V V 104 V V  104 V
I  R R
R I 6.00 A
R ?
R  1.67  10 
3

(b) If a 50 times larger resistance existed, keeping the current about the
same, the power would be increased by a factor of about 50, 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.
P  I2 R
Pb I 2 R b R b
   50  Pb  50 Pa
Pa I 2 R a R a

2. (a) A defibrillator passes 12.0 A of current through the torso of a person for 0.0100 s. How
much charge moves?
(b) How many electrons pass through the wires connected to the patient? (See figure above.)

Solution
I  12.0 A t  10-2 s
Q
t

(a) I   Q  12.0 A   10-2 s  Q  0.12 C
e  1.6  10-19 C
Q 12  10-2 C (a) Q  ?
(b) Q  n e  n  n n  7.5  1017 electrons
e 1.6  10-19 C (b) n  ?

3. Find the current through a person and identify the likely effect on her if she touches a 120-V
AC source:
a. if she is standing on a rubber mat and offers a total resistance of 300 k Ω ;
b. if she is standing barefoot on wet grass and has a resistance of only 4500 Ω .

Solution
V V 120 V
a. I   I  I I  4  10-4 A I  0.400 mA
R R 300 000 

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This is a small current and will have no effect, since it is below the threshold of sensation (see
table 20.3 p. 790 text book).
V V 120 V
b. I  I  I I  0.027 A I  27 mA
R R 4 500 
Such a current will cause a muscular contraction for the duration of the shock (table 20.3 p. 790
text book).

4. Use the ECG in Figure to determine the heart rate in

beats per minute assuming a constant time between beats.

Solution
The time from diastolic to diastolic on the upper graph is
1.15 s – 0.45 s = 0.75 s, so the heart rate is:

1 beat 1
Heart rate  1 min  60 s 1 s  min
0.45 0.75 s 60
1.15
1 beat 60
Heart rate   beats/min
1 0.75
0.75 s  min/s
60

Heart rate  80 beats/min

5. (a) Referring to the same figure, find the time systolic pressure lags behind the middle of the
QRS complex.
(b) Discuss the reasons for the time lag.

Solution
(a) The lag is approximately 0.25 s, or 1/3 of a heart cycle.
(b) The QRS complex is created by the depolarization of the ventricles, which causes it to
contract. With this contraction comes a decrease in pressure, leading to the diastolic pressure.
After contraction the heart is repolarized, raising the pressure to its maximum (systolic)
value, readying the heart for its next beat. The fact that the maximum pressure is
approximately 1/3 of a heart cycle after the QRS complex says that during 2/3 of the cycle
the heart is doing work; during the last 1/3 it is resetting to start again.

Resistors in Series and Parallel R1

6. For the circuit in the figure R1 = 1 Ω, R2 = 6Ω
and R3 = 13 Ω.
a. Determine the current through the resistors R2
and R3. V = 12 V
R2 R3

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Explicitly show how you follow the steps in the Problem-Solving Strategies for Series and
Parallel Resistors.
R1
Step 1: Draw the arrows indicating the currents on I A
the circuit diagram. I
I2 I3
Step 2: Find the total resistance. V = 12 V
Resistors R2 and R3 are in parallel. Then, resistor R1 R2 R3
is in series with the combination of R2 and R3 .
(a) Find the equivalent resistance for the I I2 I3
resistors in parallel:
B
1 1 1 1 1 1
     0.24
Rp R 2 R 3 R p 6  13 
1Ω
Do not forget to take the inverse : R p  R p  4.11 Ω
0.24
(b) Find the total resistance for the circuit:

R total  R1  R p  1Ω  4.11 Ω R total  5.11 Ω

Step 3: Find the current I:

V 12 V
I I I  2.35 A
R total 5.11 Ω
Step 4:
Find the voltage across the parallel combination (between points A and B in the circuit):
VAB  I R p VAB  2.35 A4.11 Ω VAB  9.65 V

Step 5: Find the current I2.

Looking at the point where the wire comes into the parallel combination of R2 and R3 , we see
that the voltage across R2 is the same as that between pints A and B in the circuit.
VAB 9.65 V
VAB  I 2 R 2 I2  I2  I 2  1.61 A
R2 6Ω
Step 6: Find the current I3.
Looking at the point where the wire comes into the parallel combination of R2 and R3 , we see
that the voltage across R3 is the same as that between pints A and B in the circuit.
VAB 9.65 V
VAB  I 3 R 3 I 3  I3  I 3  0.74 A
R3 13 Ω
Step 5: These results are reasonable because the sum of the currents I2 and I3 renders the
value of the total current I.

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b. Calculate P1, the power through the resistor R1,

P1  I 2 R1 P1  2.35 A 1 Ω P1  5.52 W
2

c. Find the total power supplied by the source and compare it with the sum of the powers
dissipated by the resistors.
Psource  I V Psource  2.35 A12 V  Psource  28.2 W

P2  I 22 R 2 P2  1.61 A 6 Ω P2  15.6 W
2

P3  I 23 R 3 P3  0.74 A 13 Ω P3  7.12 W

2

P1  P2  P3  5.52 W  15.6 W  7.12 W P1  P2  P3  28.24 W

The difference arises from rounding the values used in these calculations.

Electromotive Force: Terminal Voltage

A large carbon-zinc dry cell is used in a physics lab to supply 2.00 A to a circuit. A voltmeter
connected in parallel across the cell reads 1.54 V in an open circuit (figure a) and 1.34 V in a
closed circuit (figure b) when the cell supplies 2.00 A to the circuit.
(a) Determine the internal resistance of this carbon-zinc dry cell.
(b) How much electrical power does the cell produce?
(c) What power goes to its load?

Solution
(a) The voltage measured in an open
circuit is the emf of cell and the voltage
measured in a closed circuit is the terminal
voltage.
ε  1.54 V V  1.34 V
I  2.00 A
r ? Figure a Figure b
ε-V 1.54 V - 1.34 V
V  ε -Ir r  r r  0.100 
I 2.00 A
(b) P  I ε Pload  2.00 A1.54 V   3.08 W

(c) Pload  I V Pload  2.00 A1.34 V   2.68 W

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