What is the Resistance of Humans?
- Humans are electrical conductors and have an electrical resistance that is comparable to that of any other material.
The resistance of the human body to the flow of electrical current varies based on following factors
- Internal and external moisture
- Exposed sub-epidermal tissue
- The thickness of the skin.
The resistance of the human body can change depending on a variety of circumstances, including the amount of moisture present in the skin, the contact area, and the route that an electrical current takes when travelling through the body. On the other hand, the normal range of resistance for the human body is somewhere between one thousand and one hundred thousand ohms. A humans resistance can range from as high as 10,000 ohms to as low as 1,000 ohms when they are moist. On average, human resistance is somewhere in the middle. The resistance or impedance of a material to the flow of electricity is measured in ohms as the unit of measurement. As the resistance decreases, there is a clear increase in the amount of current flowing.
Consider the following scenario as an illustration: a person makes contact with a standard 120-volt residential circuit. How much current does the person experience? On the upper end, human resistance is estimated to be around 10,000 ohms. If we divide the voltage, which is 120 volts, by the resistance, which is 10,000 ohms, we can calculate the flow of current. This results in a current of 12 milliamps, or 0.012 amps. This is far higher than the threshold for perception, which is 1 milliamp, but it is only slightly lower than the threshold for “letting go,” which is 15 milliamps. We are aware of it, but we are able to let go without suffering any long-term physical damage. The greatest contribution that the skin makes to the total resistance of the organism is that of its barrier function.
**The resistance of dry skin is substantially higher than that of wet or cracked skin, which can have a considerable impact on the body’s overall resistance to electrical current. In addition to this, the direction that the current travels through the body has the potential to influence the overall resistance. As an illustration, electrical current traveling through the chest cavity can be far more hazardous than electrical current traveling through the limbs.
Under wet condition or standing in water, human become a far better conductor as a result, we give significantly less resistance.
The amount of current flow can once more be calculated by dividing the voltage, which is 120, by the reduced resistance of 1,000 ohms, which results in 0.12 amps, also known as 120 milliamps. This current is readily sufficient to cause the heart to go into fibrillation, which in turn leads to electrocution.