....So I saw somebody get hit with 600 Volts today
- Thread starter DaTT
- Start date
When you see something like that..immediately grab his hand and hold on for the ride! It will be better than anything at six flags - I promise.
Ouch. That's gotta suck.
I nearly got zapped with 5kV last week. Seeing a 2 inch arc of electricity through the air was kinda cool though.
I nearly got zapped with 5kV last week. Seeing a 2 inch arc of electricity through the air was kinda cool though.
Rubycon
Madame President
- Aug 10, 2005
- 17,768
- 485
- 126
Yes the current is the determining factor on the immediate physiological effects. Consider I²R. What really determines that current flow is the overall resistance in the path of flow. It's quite variable and often rather high on a human body. Water, mixed with salts from perspiration, will lower this value tremendously allowing much more current and heat to be produced tremendously augmenting the damage.
This is why you don't play with toasters in the bathtub.
This is why you don't play with toasters in the bathtub.
Fenixgoon
Lifer
- Jun 30, 2003
- 33,521
- 13,178
- 136
Originally posted by: MS Dawn
Yes the current is the determining factor on the immediate physiological effects. Consider I²R. What really determines that current flow is the overall resistance in the path of flow. It's quite variable and often rather high on a human body. Water, mixed with salts from perspiration, will lower this value tremendously allowing much more current and heat to be produced tremendously augmenting the damage.
This is why you don't play with toasters in the bathtub.
theoretically, if the tub were filled with 100% distilled water - PURE H2O (and no contaminants were introduced) - then you'd be fine
mrSHEiK124
Lifer
- Mar 6, 2004
- 11,488
- 2
- 0
so... did he die? and if not I hope you took a pic of him so you can make fun of him for years to come.
Rubycon
Madame President
- Aug 10, 2005
- 17,768
- 485
- 126
Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
theoretically, if the tub were filled with 100% distilled water - PURE H2O (and no contaminants were introduced) - then you'd be fine
PURELY theoretical - as soon as a body is introduced all bets are off.
LOL at the movies where someone throws a radio or heater in a hot tub and EVERYONE gets fried. Or when someone takes a cord plugged into the wall with bare wires on one end and touches it to a fence - and everyone on the fence screams with their hair on end. Truth is, average science is boring so Hollywood has to jazz it up.
Not really..
Voltage doesen't matter, unless it's too low to pierce the resistance of your skin.
60V could kill you, so could 60,000V.. But only if the amperage is high enough.
12V, however, could not kill you regardless of amperage.. unless maybe you stuck it in your eyeballs or something.
DrPizza
Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
I believe there are a few people who do a demonstration by filling a large container with very pure water, sticking live electrical wires into, then sticking their hand into it. You won't catch me doing it though!
Also, the electricity doesn't "throw" someone across the room, they are "thrown" because of the involuntary contraction of their muscles from the current.
The only thing that has much resistance in your body is your skin... if you had 2 cuts on your hand, and stuck a 9 volt battery across the two of them, you'd experience what your tongue experiences when it touches the battery.
Hmm... what else? Oh, and the argument about "it's the current that kills ya" "it's the voltage that matters" is rather moot; V=IR, R being the resistance of the body. However, the resistance of the skin can break down rapidly with sufficient current.
Oh yeah, and the frequency matters as well; ironically our 60Hz frequency is closed to matching the frequency of the electrical pulses to the heart, thus, it can mess it up easier than other frequencies. DC with the same voltage and current is less likely to kill than AC.
Lethal currents are measured in milliamps (thousandths of an amp) while your breakers in a house are typically 15 or 20 amps, thus the breakers are going to keep your house from burning down, but not keep you from dying. Ground fault circuit interupters detect trip due to current difference much smaller than those that are lethal - they protect your life.
Also, the electricity doesn't "throw" someone across the room, they are "thrown" because of the involuntary contraction of their muscles from the current.
The only thing that has much resistance in your body is your skin... if you had 2 cuts on your hand, and stuck a 9 volt battery across the two of them, you'd experience what your tongue experiences when it touches the battery.
Hmm... what else? Oh, and the argument about "it's the current that kills ya" "it's the voltage that matters" is rather moot; V=IR, R being the resistance of the body. However, the resistance of the skin can break down rapidly with sufficient current.
Oh yeah, and the frequency matters as well; ironically our 60Hz frequency is closed to matching the frequency of the electrical pulses to the heart, thus, it can mess it up easier than other frequencies. DC with the same voltage and current is less likely to kill than AC.
Lethal currents are measured in milliamps (thousandths of an amp) while your breakers in a house are typically 15 or 20 amps, thus the breakers are going to keep your house from burning down, but not keep you from dying. Ground fault circuit interupters detect trip due to current difference much smaller than those that are lethal - they protect your life.
Originally posted by: MS Dawn
Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
theoretically, if the tub were filled with 100% distilled water - PURE H2O (and no contaminants were introduced) - then you'd be fine
PURELY theoretical - as soon as a body is introduced all bets are off.
LOL at the movies where someone throws a radio or heater in a hot tub and EVERYONE gets fried. Or when someone takes a cord plugged into the wall with bare wires on one end and touches it to a fence - and everyone on the fence screams with their hair on end. Truth is, average science is boring so Hollywood has to jazz it up.
If an electrically hot wire (+ its ground wire) was placed in a swimming pool, why would everyone in there NOT get shocked?
TRENDING THREADS
-
Discussion Zen 5 Speculation (EPYC Turin and Strix Point/Granite Ridge - Ryzen 9000)- Started by DisEnchantment
- Replies: 25K
-
Discussion Intel Meteor, Arrow, Lunar & Panther Lakes + WCL Discussion Threads
- Started by Tigerick
- Replies: 23K
-
Discussion Intel current and future Lakes & Rapids thread- Started by TheF34RChannel
- Replies: 23K
-
-
Facebook
Twitter