Given a 5 A/50 mV shunt with a voltage drop of 12 mV, what is the current in the circuit?

To determine the current in the circuit using a shunt resistor, the relationship between current and voltage drop across the shunt can be used. The voltage drop across the shunt is proportional to the current flowing through it.

The shunt in this question is rated for 5 A with a voltage drop of 50 mV, implying that for every 50 mV of voltage across it, there are 5 A of current. This gives us a simple ratio which can be used to find the current based on the observed voltage drop.

To find the current corresponding to a 12 mV drop:

1. Set up the proportion based on the shunt's rated capacity: [ \frac{5 \text{ A}}{50 \text{ mV}} = \frac{I}{12 \text{ mV}} ]

2. Rearranging this formula allows us to solve for the current I: [ I = \frac{5 \text{ A}}{50 \text{ mV}} \times 12 \text{ mV} ]

3. Simplifying yields: [ I = \frac{5 \times 12}{50}