Xref: utzoo sci.electronics:17260 alt.sex:24367
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!mit-eddie!uw-beaver!ubc-cs!fornax!wli
From: wli@fornax.UUCP (William Li)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics,alt.sex
Subject: Re: HELP!
Summary: Yeah, but...
Message-ID: <2011@fornax.UUCP>
Date: 26 Jan 91 09:05:30 GMT
References: <1991Jan19.052458.7449@wam.umd.edu> <1991Jan26.041208.25354@athena.cs.uga.edu>
Organization: School of Computing Science, SFU, Burnaby, B.C. Canada
Lines: 37

In article <1991Jan26.041208.25354@athena.cs.uga.edu>, mcovingt@athena.cs.uga.edu (Michael A. Covington) writes:
> "It's not voltage that's dangerous, it's current"
> 
> But voltage is the force that causes current!
> That's like saying, "It's not falling that's dangerous, 
> it's hitting the ground."

But it *is* hitting the ground that's dangerous.  To get real
silly, I could say that falling onto a large airbag from a tall
building is not at all dangerous, but falling from a lesser
height onto concrete will likely do some grievous bodily harm.

Granted, voltage makes the current go.  In the case of the
human body, though, it makes more sense to say that

	I = V/R

than to say that

	V = IR

We know that a given amount of current (say, 100 A) through a
given body part (say, your heart) will do a given amount of
damage (say, turn your heart into black char).  You can't
say the same thing for voltage, because resistance conditions
in the body are so variable.  Thus, putting your dry hand on
a metal ball at 10,000 V with your feet up on a plastic milk
carton will make your hair stand on end and nothing else.
Stand in a puddle of water connected by a conducting path
to the ground of the same 10,000 V metal ball, and *then*
see if "there'll be a hot time in the ol' time tonight."

Current kills.

(so do a lot of other things, too, come to think of it.
 Like, for example, standing idly in the middle of a
 flame.)