Which is the Killer, Current or Voltage?

[AngryDem001]

[Wounded Bear]

1. The real killer is....

stupidity.

[seveneyes]

2. Unless you defy Ohms law, the current is right now

Cut through the barrier and do what no one has dared
Let's break the equation
E=MC2

[NYC_SKP]

3. "Don't completely trust your instruments"

And THEN he puts the multimeter on the thing.

[Lionel Mandrake]

4. It takes about 50 milliamps to kill. That's only 0.05 amps.

Okay, I get it that this guy is a comedian, but ...

Ohms law can be written I = V/R, where I is current, V is voltage, and R is resistance. If you make R small enough, say by grabbing a couple of large metal objects with sweaty hands, V doesn't have to be very high to kill you. On the other hand, if V is thousands of volts, you can die even if R is 10 kilohms or more, which is typical for dry hands.

[Major Nikon]

5. ...provoded that current goes through your heart

Which is a pretty good trick in itself.

[Lionel Mandrake]

8. Point taken.

The current will go through the heart if you complete the circuit from one arm to the other, or arm to leg, but this doesn't always cause ventricular fibrillation. It's a throw of the dice whether a shock causes fibrillation. Ironically enough, a subsequent shock can reverse the fibrillation. (That's the principle of a defibrillator.)

If the current doesn't go through the heart, then other mechanisms can kill you, but they require much more current.

Read more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrocution

[Major Nikon]

10. Even going from one arm to the other doesn't mean the electricity goes through your heart

Electricity tends to travel on the outside of things, including the human body.

[Lionel Mandrake]

13. Yes, it does.

Whether electricity stays on the surface or penetrates the body depends on frequency. The higher the frequency, the thinner the layer carrying the current. DC and 60-Hertz AC penetrate the body, and blood conducts electricity better than skin does.

[Major Nikon]

14. Actually it depends more on voltage

Skin provides resistance to electricity, but this resistance breaks down at higher voltages. Frequency is also a factor because alternating current will pass through skin easier than direct current. As far as electrical shock required to induce ventricular fibrillation, there are a number of factors such as how much and how long the person has been sweating, if at all, voltage, current, size and shape of conductor, length of exposure, etc. As I said, it's a pretty good trick for electricity to cause ventricular fibrillation, which certainly does happen quite often, but it also doesn't happen in situations where people might assume it would.

[lastlib]

7. Resistance is not futile.....

...It's Voltage divided by Current



(You're welcome.)

[Lionel Mandrake]

9. Behold the mighty Resistor.

The capital omega is a symbol for the unit of resistance named after Georg Ohm (1789 – 1854).

The inverse of resistance is conductance, the unit of which is sometimes called the Mho and symbolized by ℧ (an upside down omega).

Who says physicists don't have a sense of humor?

[Major Nikon]

11. Join the resistance

[lastlib]

12. would you say this is a current trend?

[Dont call me Shirley]

6. That was funny.