When a lead deflects the current at right angles to its direction, the trace will be what?

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Testing your knowledge of heart rhythms and ECG interpretation is crucial. Discover cardiac arrhythmias, learn EKG analysis, and test your comprehension with multiple-choice questions, flashcards, and detailed explanations. Prepare yourself for success, and strengthen your skills now!

Multiple Choice

When a lead deflects the current at right angles to its direction, the trace will be what?

Explanation:
When the heart’s depolarization current runs perpendicular to a lead’s axis, that lead captures no net voltage along its direction. The cardiac electrical vector projects to zero on that lead, so the trace sits on the baseline—that is, an isoelectric line. This happens because the lead’s deflection depends on the cosine of the angle between the depolarization vector and the lead axis; at 90 degrees, cos(90°) = 0, so there’s no deflection. If the vector were aligned with the lead, you’d see an upright deflection; if opposite, an inverted one.

When the heart’s depolarization current runs perpendicular to a lead’s axis, that lead captures no net voltage along its direction. The cardiac electrical vector projects to zero on that lead, so the trace sits on the baseline—that is, an isoelectric line. This happens because the lead’s deflection depends on the cosine of the angle between the depolarization vector and the lead axis; at 90 degrees, cos(90°) = 0, so there’s no deflection. If the vector were aligned with the lead, you’d see an upright deflection; if opposite, an inverted one.

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