___ energy is the amount of instantaneous heat energy produced by an arc flash.

• A. Caloric
• B. Blast
• C. Incident
• D. Metric

Answer: (C)

Incident energy is the amount of instantaneous heat energy produced by an arc flash that can be incident on a surface. It’s usually expressed in cal/cm^2 and represents the heat flux a person near the arc could receive, which drives burn risk and PPE requirements. This term is specific to arc flash hazards. Caloric energy describes general heat content, not the heat reaching a surface in an arc flash; blast energy refers to a pressure wave from an explosion, not the heat flux; and metric energy isn’t a standard term used here. Understanding incident energy helps explain why PPE levels are chosen based on the expected heat the body might experience during a fault.