Lightning strikes can involve currents as high as 25,000 A that last for about 40 ms. If a person is struck by a bolt of lightning with these properties, the current will pass through his body. We shall assume that his mass is 75 kg, that he is wet (after all, he is in a rainstorm) and therefore has a resistance of 1.0 kΩ, and that his body is all water (which is reasonable for a rough, but plausible, approximation). (a) By how many degrees Celsius would this lightning bolt increase the temperature of 75 kg of water? (b) Given that the internal body temperature is about 37oC, would the person’s temperature actually increase that much? Why not? What would happen first?

Lightning strikes can involve currents as high as 25,000 A that last for about 40 ms. If a person is struck by a bolt of lightning with these properties, the current will pass through his body. We shall assume that his mass is 75 kg, that he is wet (after all, he is in a rainstorm) and therefore has a resistance of 1.0 kΩ, and that his body is all water (which is reasonable for a rough, but plausible, approximation). (a) By how many degrees Celsius would this lightning bolt increase the temperature of 75 kg of water? (b) Given that the internal body temperature is about 37oC, would the person’s temperature actually increase that much? Why not? What would happen first?

Similar questions

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