• Example 9.

1 (page 279) • Solution

• A person touching 120 V conductor while standing • Using Ohm’s law, the current passing through the
with bare feet on dry sand. The ground resistance person in the case of sand soil is
(Rg) under his feet is 20 kΩ. Estimate the current 𝑉 120
through his body. Repeat the calculation if the soil • 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑛 = = = 5.71 𝑚𝐴
𝑅𝑚𝑎𝑛 +𝑅𝑔 1000+20000
is wet organic with a ground resistance of 30 Ω.
• The current passing through the person in the case
of wet-organic soil is
𝑉 120
• 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑛 = = = 116.5 𝑚𝐴
𝑅𝑚𝑎𝑛 +𝑅𝑔 1000+30

• Note that the person will survive the shock in the

first case and will likely die in the second case.
• Example 9.2 (page • Solution
• A child climbs a tree to retrieve his kite that is tangled on
a utility line. The voltage of the line with respect to • If you trace the path of the current starting from the
ground is 120 V. The resistance of the wire from the source, you can obtain the electrical circuit shown
source to the location of the kite is 0.2 Ω. The tree has a below. The current passing through the child starts
resistance of 500 Ω. The ground resistance of the tree is at the source passes through the line to the child,
30 Ω. Assume that the child’s resistance is 1000 Ω. If the then to the tree, and finally to the ground. The
child touches the power line with his hand, estimate the current in this case is
current through his body. Also, estimate the time it takes
to induce ventricular fibrillation. 𝑉 120
• 𝐼𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑 = = =
𝑅𝑙 +𝑅𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑 +𝑅𝑡 +𝑅𝑔 0.2+1000+500+30
78.4 𝑚𝐴
• According to Dalziel’s formula, the child will
survive only for
𝐾 2 116 2
• 𝑡= = = 2.18 𝑠𝑒𝑐
𝐼 78.4
 • Example 9.3 • Solution
𝜌
• A hemisphere 2 m in diameter is buried in wet-organic 𝑅𝑔 = = 1.6Ω
1
soil. Compute the ground resistance of the hemisphere.
Also compute the ground resistance at 2, 10, and 100 2 (4𝜋𝑟)
m away from the hemisphere. • The resistance between two points can be computed by
using Equation 9.7

𝜌 1 1
𝑅𝑎𝑏 = −
2𝜋 𝑟𝑎 𝑟𝑏
𝜌 1 1
• At 2 m→ 𝑅𝑎𝑏−2 = 2𝜋 1
− 2
= 0.8 Ω
𝜌 1 1
• At 10 m →𝑅𝑎𝑏−10 = 2𝜋 1 − 10 = 1.4 Ω
𝜌 1 1
• At 100 m →𝑅𝑎𝑏−100 = 2𝜋 1 − 100 = 1.6 Ω
• Note that, the ground resistance of an object is
practically a function of the immediate distance, rather
than the distance to the center of earth.
• Example 9.4 (page 288) • Table 9.7 gives the resistivity of moist soil. The ground
resistance of the hemisphere Rg is
• A power line insulator has partially failed and 10 A passes 𝜌 100
through the tower structure to the ground. Assume that the • 𝑅𝑔 = = = 32Ω
tower ground is a hemisphere with a radius of 0.5 m, and 2𝜋𝑟 2𝜋×.5
the soil surrounding the hemisphere is moist. • The voltage of the tower is the GPR of the tower:
• 1. Compute the voltage of the tower. • 𝑉 = 𝐼𝑅𝑔 = 320 𝑉
• 2. Assume that a man with body resistance of 1.0 𝑘Ω • 2. To compute the current through the man, first compute
touches the tower while standing on ground. Compute the
current passing through the man. 𝑅𝑓 : 𝑅𝑓 = 3300
• 3. Use Dalziel’s formula and compute the man’s survival • The current through the man is given in Equation 9.13:
time. 𝑅𝑔 32
• 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑛 = 𝐼 10 × =
𝑅𝑔 +𝑅𝑚𝑎𝑛+0.5𝑅𝑓 (32+1000+150)
270.72 𝑚𝐴
• 3. According to Dalziel’s formula, the man can survive for
2 157 2
• 𝑡 = 𝐾/𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑛 = = 336.32 𝑚𝑠
270.72
 • Example 9.5 (page 289) • The ground resistance of the rod 𝑅𝑔 𝑖𝑠
• Repeat Example 9.4 assuming that a grounding rod • 𝑅𝑔 =
𝜌
ln
2𝑙+𝑟
=
100
ln
2+.02
= 73.45Ω
is used instead of the hemisphere. Assume that the 2𝜋𝑙 𝑟 2𝜋×1 0.02
rod is 4 cm in diameter and is driven 1 m into • The voltage of the tower is the GPR of the tower
ground.
• 𝑉 = 𝐼𝑅𝑔 = 734.5 𝑉
𝑅𝑔
• 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑛 = 𝐼 =
𝑅𝑔 +𝑅𝑚𝑎𝑛 +0.5𝑅𝑓
73.45
• = 10 × = 600.35 𝑚𝐴
(73.45+1000+150)

2 157 2
• 𝑡 = 𝐾/𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑛 = = 68.4 𝑚𝑠
600.35
 • Example 9.6 (page 291) • Solution
• A short circuit current of 1000 A passes through • For moist soil, ρ = 100 Ω-m. Assume that the step
hemisphere grounding object. A person is walking 5 of the person is about 0.6 m. Thevenin’s voltage
m away from the center of the hemisphere. Assume can be computed using Equation 9.6.
that the leg-to-leg body resistance of the person is 1 𝐼𝜌 1 1 100 1 1
𝑘Ω, and the soil surrounding the hemisphere is • 𝑉𝑡ℎ = − = 100 ∗ − = 341 𝑉
2𝜋 𝑟𝑎 𝑟𝑏 2𝜋 5 5.6
moist. Compute the current through the person and
his step potential. • 𝑅𝑓 = 3𝜌 = 300
• The current through the man can be computed by
Eq 9.16
𝑉𝑡ℎ 341
𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑛 = = = 213.13
𝑅𝑚𝑎𝑛 + 2𝑅𝑓 600 + 1000
• The step voltage between the person’s feet
• 𝑉𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝 = 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑛 × 𝑅𝑚𝑎𝑛 = 213.13 × 1000 =
213.13 𝑉
1. What is meant by the ground resistance of an • The ground resistance of an object is the
resistance between the object and the center of
object? State two factors that influence the
the earth. The factors are the shape of the object,
ground resistance. the type of the soil and the dampness of the soil.
2. Why the household plugs (wires) sometime • It depends on household chassis, if it is made from
have two terminals (prongs) and sometime non-conductive materials then two terminals are
have three terminals? sufficient otherwise three terminals should be
used.