Question

Electrocardiogram (ECG) is a measure of
A. Rate of heartbeat
B. Difference in electric potential
C. Volume of the blood pumped
D. Ventricular contraction

Answer 1

Hint: ECG or Electrocardiograph is a test used to access the muscular and electrical functionalities of the heart. It is a painless test which can be conducted in a few minutes and can be read instantly.

Complete answer:
ECG stands for electrocardiograph. It gives a graphical representation of the electrical activity of the heart during a cardiac cycle which helps to detect the abnormalities and help us to measure the heart functioning.
Electrocardiograph is a machine used to obtain an electrocardiogram (ECG). It is a graphical representation of the electrical activity (difference in electric potential) of the heart during a cardiac cycle. An electrocardiograph is a graph of voltage which is formed against time of electrical activity of the heart. The electrical system is the power source that makes the working of the heart possible in a nutshell. The electrical impulses trigger the heartbeat that travels down a pathway throughout the heart. These pathways are conduction pathways and are responsible for causing ventricles of the heart to contract and pump out blood. The human heart is a natural pacemaker which produces electrical impulse by itself. These electrical impulses generate an electric current that spreads over our body. An electrocardiogram helps in measuring the currents in the form of wave graphs on a paper.
ECG measures or records the electrical activity of our heart at rest and it also provides information about our heart rate and the rhythm.

ECG is done because :
-To detect any heart related issues
-To detect whether you have had any heart attack
-To find out if any medicine is causing any side effect on your body
-To know if there are any blocked arteries.
To obtain a standard ECG graph, a patient is always connected to the machine which has different electrical leads, first to each wrist to the left ankle, which helps in monitoring the heart activity and its functions. The human heart gives an electrical impulse which passes through our heart, it thereby forms an electrical impulse by itself.

Hence, the correct answer is option (B).

Note: There are three types of waves in ECG (Electrocardiogram):
-The P wave tells about the depolarisation of the atria, which can further describe the contraction of both the atria.
-The QRS complex tells about the depolarisation of the ventricles, which may further describe the ventricular contraction.
-The T wave tells about the returning of the ventricles from excited to normal state which is repolarisation and the exit of the T wave marks the exit of the systole.