In one form of plethysmograph (a device for measuring volume), a rubber capillary tube with an inside diameter of 1.00 mm is filled with mercury at 20°C. The resistance of the mercury is measured with the aid of electrodes sealed into the ends of the tube. If 100.00 cm of the tube is wound in a spiral around a patient’s upper arm, the blood flow during a heartbeat causes the arm to expand, stretching the tube to a length of 100.04 cm. From this observation, and assuming cylindrical symmetry, you can find the change in volume of the arm, which gives an indication of blood flow.
(a) Calculate the resistance of the mercury.
(b) Calculate the fractional change in resistance during the heartbeat. Take ρHg = 9.4 × 10–7 Ω ∙ m.