The Earth Resistance

• Currents can be impressed through the earth by means of ground electrodes. When
potential difference is applied between two electrodes, a current field will be inevitably
impressed into the soil.
• Let us apply a potential difference between two identical hemispherical electrodes, of
radius r_1, one transmitting and the other receiving current, displaced by a sufficiently
large distance, in theory infinity.
• The resistance of the generic hemispherical shell,
•  The resistance of the generic hemispherical layer of the earth is smaller as its distance r
from the electrode increases.
• Earth resistance, can be obtained by integrating Eq between the electrode’s surface and the
infinity:
• It can be noted that the earth resistance occurs in higher concentration around the electrode
itself.
• In fact, due to the increase of the cross section of the frustum of a cone, the contribution of
the subsequent layers is smaller and smaller.
• To demonstrate mathematically with distance 2r_0:

• A good connection to ground may be successfully achieved by replacing the aforementioned

volume of dirt of radius 2r_0 with earth enhanced with special sub0.12 · m).
• The symbol for the earth resistance is given in