| Forum Home | ||||
| PC World Chat | ||||
| Thread ID: 83272 | 2007-09-26 00:57:00 | Electric shocks | FoxyMX (5) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 595071 | 2007-09-26 10:25:00 | You probably read that on an American web-site where the mains is only 110 volts. | decibel (11645) | ||
| 595072 | 2007-09-26 10:33:00 | You probably read that on an American web-site where the mains is only 110 volts. I did not claim to have made up the phrase - it was I thought quite common. And the rest is also true. What was you point? |
mmmork (6822) | ||
| 595073 | 2007-09-26 10:35:00 | [QUOTE=george12;596623]Mains power is EASILY capable of killing you, but it usually won't. I've been electrocuted by mains voltage several times, and I'm fine, but that certainly doesn't mean it's something to play with. On the other hand, if you were to grab, say, a live wire with one hand while being grounded with the other (resting on a sink perhaps) the current would flow straight through your heart (one arm to another) and probably screw your heartbeat up, killing you if nobody is around to do CPR. Killed by death what a horrible way to go |
tedheath (537) | ||
| 595074 | 2007-09-26 14:50:00 | It's the volts that jolts, the mills that kills . (mills being milliamps of current) That saying is used incorrectly 9 times out of 10 . You have to remember that it's the voltage that causes the current to be drawn . If you're going to get that technical about it, resistance needs to be factored in . A car battery is only 12V but will happily crank out 600 amps usually . 6mA can kill, yet grabbing the terminals of a car battery isn't dangerous at all . This is because even if your skin is wet it has a high resistance and barely any current will flow . When you grab on to an electric fence you don't have thousands of volts across you . The voltage will drop (reflecting Ohms law) as the circuit has a very high internal resistance through the ground etc, and the resistance of the person holding it will determine how much current flows . So a better thing to say is: "It's current that hurts and kills, but voltage and resistance that determine the amount of current" And if that's too complicated: "Stay away from live wiring" |
george12 (7) | ||
| 595075 | 2007-09-26 15:23:00 | Killed by death Motorhead! *Impersonates lemmy* du nana naanah Killed by death! |
rob_on_guitar (4196) | ||
| 595076 | 2007-09-26 21:27:00 | On the other hand, if you were to grab, say, a live wire with one hand while being grounded with the other (resting on a sink perhaps) the current would flow straight through your heart (one arm to another) and probably screw your heartbeat up, killing you if nobody is around to do CPR . So a toaster could be VERY particularly dangerous if there was a path through your body to, say, the sink . From the sound of it it would be a very painful way to go as well . Your brain shuts down a wee while after your heart packs up so I guess you would be alive long enough to suffer from the shock . :stare: I don't make a habit of poking knives into the toaster but have seen plenty of other people do it . :rolleyes: |
FoxyMX (5) | ||
| 595077 | 2007-09-26 23:02:00 | I cook hotdogs with two forks attached to two leads from the wall socket and just place the tines thru the very ends of them . Don't use silver or silver plated forks! They cook in about 10 seconds that way . I imagine you would also cook, albeit a little slower if you didn't get off the line voltage pretty quickly . . . especially at 220 volts . |
SurferJoe46 (51) | ||
| 595078 | 2007-09-26 23:26:00 | Electric shocks make life interesting. I've had quite a few starting at about 11years old when I tried putting a piece of wire into an electrical socket to see what happens. I discovered human being can in actual fact fly! My last one was a warning I would like to pass on. I was fixing an old standard lamp and made sure the switched socket was turned off. But I got a hell of a belt. To discover that the PDL socket switch had been designed in such a way that wear on the system left it in the constantly on instead of the constantly off state. That switch would have been made at least 30 years ago but I would imagine that there are still some knocking about. I knew the rule about actually removing the plug and /or checking with a voltmeter before doing any work but just ignored it. Just as daft in my sixties as I was at 11. Tom |
Thomas01 (317) | ||
| 595079 | 2007-09-26 23:31:00 | You are aware that even a 'switched off' socket is still dangerous? Most socket switches are single-pole only, and noting that our power is supplied as AC this means that there is still a high potential between the 'neutral' wire and the ground. On a typical mains system, the 'live' and 'neutral' wires are for all intents and purposes identical. | Erayd (23) | ||
| 595080 | 2007-09-26 23:51:00 | Actually . . that's not entirely true . The "common" side is supposed to be also grounded . . . at least here it is and I cannot fathom any electrical engineer letting it be any different in NZ . :eek: It would suicidal to ever touch the outside of an appliance or to even produce and sell something with a floating ground as you describe . There'd be dead bodies all over NZ . There are times when you can find (US values here) about 80 volts on the common as it travels to ground . . . the culprits? . . . fluorescent lamp ballasts especially when you have a burned out tube that is constantly trying to fire . |
SurferJoe46 (51) | ||
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 | |||||