3 ms·

Voltage does nothing. It is the current that kills you. 2000 Volts / 1000 ohm (resistance of human skin) is 2 amps if you close the circuit. That is deadly wit

Voltage does nothing. It is the current that kills you. 2000 Volts / 1000 ohm (resistance of human skin) is 2 amps if you close the circuit. That is deadly with a healthy margin. But put on a insulator shoes and you can hold (the same) wire with 2 dry hands and nothing will happen - the same way birds can rest on wire and live. Of course holding 2 different wires will be bad idea. Btw - a basic safety precaution in engineering school - always plug and unplug stuff with one hand. http://engineering.mit.edu/ask/how-do-birds-sit-high-voltage-power-lines-without-getting-electrocuted http://engineering.mit.edu/ask/how-do-birds-sit-high-voltage...

JensRex 11y ago
>Voltage does nothing. It is the current that kills you. Yes, but... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xONZcBJh5A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xONZcBJh5A
- venomsnake 11y ago
  No. Because breach your skin on the thumbs with the needles of the oscilloscope and 9v battery will easily stop your heart. The current that passes trough your body is determined by the properties of the whole circuit. And it is ultimately the current that kills you.
  - userbinator 11y ago
    Actually it's the energy - think of a static shock, which is similarly in the kV range (or higher) and thus the instantaneous current and power is also very high; but it doesn't last long enough to cause any real damage (i.e. the amount of energy imparted is tiny.)
upofadown 11y ago
Voltage and current are just different ways to measure the same phenomenon. Both happen at the same time. The reason that we talk about the hazard of voltage rather than current is that most sources of electrical energy in our world have a particular voltage (voltage source) rather than a particular current (current source). Also, very low currents can be hazardous but skin resistance is relatively high. Most of the voltage sources we are exposed to are fairly low. There is no point in putting a warning about the 1 Amp of current a power adapter can produce if that adapter is limited to producing 5 Volts. In a world where all power sources were producing thousands of volts the opposite would be true, an example warning would be "Danger, 200 mA". In general we have to worry about the exception, not the rule.
tamana 11y ago
V = IR. For a given resistance (your body!) V and I are interconvertible.

JensRex 11y ago

>Voltage does nothing. It is the current that kills you. Yes, but... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xONZcBJh5A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xONZcBJh5A

venomsnake 11y ago
No. Because breach your skin on the thumbs with the needles of the oscilloscope and 9v battery will easily stop your heart. The current that passes trough your body is determined by the properties of the whole circuit. And it is ultimately the current that kills you.
- userbinator 11y ago
  Actually it's the energy - think of a static shock, which is similarly in the kV range (or higher) and thus the instantaneous current and power is also very high; but it doesn't last long enough to cause any real damage (i.e. the amount of energy imparted is tiny.)

upofadown 11y ago

Voltage and current are just different ways to measure the same phenomenon. Both happen at the same time. The reason that we talk about the hazard of voltage rather than current is that most sources of electrical energy in our world have a particular voltage (voltage source) rather than a particular current (current source). Also, very low currents can be hazardous but skin resistance is relatively high. Most of the voltage sources we are exposed to are fairly low. There is no point in putting a warning about the 1 Amp of current a power adapter can produce if that adapter is limited to producing 5 Volts. In a world where all power sources were producing thousands of volts the opposite would be true, an example warning would be "Danger, 200 mA". In general we have to worry about the exception, not the rule.

tamana 11y ago

V = IR. For a given resistance (your body!) V and I are interconvertible.