Human body providing a through circuit for elctrical current

[terryS]

Jack had previuosly posted:

"Went over a book which discussed safety in electric systems.
To my understanding, I think if there is no complete path to form
through your
body you won't get a shock taken also with the fact the potential of
your
body is the same as the point of touch (known as commons). Am I
correct?
Thanks Jack".

This reminds of the story about a little old lady who asked an
engineer, back in the days of street cars (trams etc.); "Would I get
an electric shock if I stepped on the metal rails in the roadway?

The engineer's answer was; "Only if you put your 'other' foot on the
overhead street car wires, Ma'am"!

Also by way of comment; if the lady was hanging from the overhead
wires and was not touching anything on the ground, or in contact with
it, she would also not provide any path for electricity and would not
be shocked!

From a practical point of view if you ARE touching (working on)
something electrically hot, keep one hand in your pocket and stand on
a rubber mat; you may survive!

BTW anything over approx. 30 to 40 volts (depending on RMS peak volts
etc.) can be 'felt' by many people and anything over about 50 (taking
peak volts into account can shock) and possibly burn.

 

[z]

On Apr 2, 4:47 am, terryS <tsanf...@nf.sympatico.ca> wrote:

 Jack had previuosly posted:

"Went over a book which discussed safety in electric systems.
To my understanding, I think if there is no complete path to form
through your
body you won't get a shock taken also with the fact the potential of
your
body is the same as the point of touch (known as commons). Am I
correct?
Thanks Jack".

This reminds of the story about a little old lady who asked an
engineer, back in the days of street cars (trams etc.); "Would I get
an electric shock if I stepped on the metal rails in the roadway?

The engineer's answer was; "Only if you put your 'other' foot on the
overhead street car wires, Ma'am"!

Also by way of comment; if the lady was hanging from the overhead
wires and was not touching anything on the ground, or in contact with
it, she would also not provide any path for electricity and would not
be shocked!

From a practical point of view if you ARE touching (working on)
something electrically hot, keep one hand in your pocket and stand on
a rubber mat; you may survive!

BTW anything over approx. 30 to 40 volts (depending on RMS peak volts
etc.) can be 'felt' by many people and anything over about 50 (taking
peak volts into account can shock) and possibly burn.

also, although you can stick a regular 9 volt battery on your tongue
to see if it's good, if you stick one of those little 12 volt
batteries with a terminal on each end inside your mouth to see if it's
good and it is, your jaws will clamp shut over it, making it hard to
remove (don't ask).

 

[John Popelish]

terryS wrote:

Jack had previuosly posted:

"Went over a book which discussed safety in electric systems.
To my understanding, I think if there is no complete path to form
through your
body you won't get a shock taken also with the fact the potential of
your
body is the same as the point of touch (known as commons). Am I
correct?

Take a look at this video of someone touching 400,000 volts AC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UleGgWpeRhI

--
Regards,

John Popelish

 

[Bob Masta]

On Wed, 2 Apr 2008 10:13:35 -0700 (PDT), z <gzuckier@snail-mail.net>
wrote:

On Apr 2, 4:47=A0am, terryS <tsanf...@nf.sympatico.ca> wrote:
=A0Jack had previuosly posted:

"Went over a book which discussed safety in electric systems.
To my understanding, I think if there is no complete path to form
through your
body you won't get a shock taken also with the fact the potential of
your
body is the same as the point of touch (known as commons). Am I
correct?
Thanks Jack".

This reminds of the story about a little old lady who asked an
engineer, back in the days of street cars (trams etc.); "Would I get
an electric shock if I stepped on the metal rails in the roadway?

The engineer's answer was; "Only if you put your 'other' foot on the
overhead street car wires, Ma'am"!

Also by way of comment; if the lady was hanging from the overhead
wires and was not touching anything on the ground, or in contact with
it, she would also not provide any path for electricity and would not
be shocked!

From a practical point of view if you ARE touching (working on)
something electrically hot, keep one hand in your pocket and stand on
a rubber mat; you may survive!

BTW anything over approx. 30 to 40 volts (depending on RMS peak volts
etc.) can be 'felt' by many people and anything over about 50 (taking
peak volts into account can shock) and possibly burn.

also, although you can stick a regular 9 volt battery on your tongue
to see if it's good, if you stick one of those little 12 volt
batteries with a terminal on each end inside your mouth to see if it's
good and it is, your jaws will clamp shut over it, making it hard to
remove (don't ask).

As a kid I would often strip wires with my teeth. Once I tried it
with the leads from a 9V battery clip, battery still in place. Both
leads ended up inside my mouth at once. It was an amazing and scary
experience... I actually saw the proverbial stars and heard a strange
sound "inside my head". Never repeated that "experiment" afterward,
but I *did* get a decent pair of wire strippers.... <g>

Best regards,


Bob Masta

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