I hope you know that 10000000000000000 W ( with 1000000000000000000000000000000 V) with 0.000000001 A is alot less dangerous than 1W (1 V) with 10000000000000 A right?
I don't know who you were directing that comment to, and I'm no electrician, but I also believe it's the Amps that kill. Not necessarily the Voltage.
For example, a static spark from touching a car door or a doorknob in your house can generate in excess of 1000 Volts (maybe even 10 times that). In comparison, a typical wall outlet is 120 Volts (in the US), but is much more dangerous because of the Amperage (current) involved.
Anywho, sorry if that was off topic but I thought someone might find it interesting.
Joined: 04 Jan 2007 Posts: 11564 Location: Wherever the wind blows- North America
Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 15:09 Post subject:
soulstace wrote:
I don't know who you were directing that comment to, and I'm no electrician, but I also believe it's the Amps that kill. Not necessarily the Voltage.
For example, a static spark from touching a car door or a doorknob in your house can generate in excess of 1000 Volts (maybe even 10 times that). In comparison, a typical wall outlet is 120 Volts (in the US), but is much more dangerous because of the Amperage (current) involved.
Anywho, sorry if that was off topic but I thought someone might find it interesting.
Very true....actually, if you can see the blue spark...its closer to 30K volts of static...this is the #2 killer of electronics....heat being #1.
This post is pretty archaic...I am not sure why it was raised again.
redhawk _________________ The only stupid question....is the unasked one.
That's a great point, and valuable knowledge for anyone that plans to work on computers. It's best to wear an anti-static band or always be sure to discharge any static before touching any electronics equipment (especially the expensive kind).
I hope you know that 10000000000000000 W ( with 1000000000000000000000000000000 V) with 0.000000001 A is alot less dangerous than 1W (1 V) with 10000000000000 A right?
I'm afraid I do NOT GET the point, as there is no sensible one made as far as I can see.
The Power mentioned which is equivalent to 1 million million kilowatts (or 1million Gigawatts) on the first line is so enormous it will dwarf the Total power usage of the world including all sources.
It seems that this is about 1 hundredth of the Sun's output striking the Earth.
More than enough to do more than Cause a severe sunburn and more than enough to vaporise large amounts of solid matter.
More than 10ma is enough to cause painful muscle reaction and 50ma may in fact stop the heart beating in those people with heart problems.
However skin (dead that is) acts as an insulator and does not tend to start conducting much until the Voltage rises above 80V or more when it seems to breakdown.
I've received enough shocks in my past from Van de Graaf generators, Leyden jars,Wimshurst generators, hand operated Radio generator Power supplies plus others I forget, to know when someone does not seem to be talking sense and using the crazy wattage figures quoted.
