Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!gwu
From: gwu@clyde.ATT.COM (George Wu)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: shock box
Summary: Current determines how dangerous a shock is.
Keywords: electric shock current
Message-ID: <23051@clyde.ATT.COM>
Date: 11 Mar 88 02:11:27 GMT
References: <307@trwind.ind.TRW.COM> <4881@videovax.Tek.COM> <1231@uop.edu> <3616@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> <2945@zodiac.UUCP>
Reply-To: gwu@clyde.UUCP (George Wu)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Whippany NJ
Lines: 29

In article <2945@zodiac.UUCP> jshelton@ads.com (John L. Shelton) writes:

>Two things are required to inflict damage on a human via
>electric shock:
>
>1.  Voltage.  Low enough voltage will not cause damage (at least DC).
>2.  Current.  It takes a certain amount of current (I believe 75 ma,
>but don't rely on this) to stop a heart.
>
>=John=


     It's not the voltage that causes your heart to stop, but the current.
Naturally, voltage and current are related, but it's the current that really
matters. I've always been told current as low as 20 mA can be dangerous.

     I wouldn't be suprised if even lower currents interfered with the
functioning of a pacemaker.

     A high school physics teacher of mine used to zap kids who fell asleep
with a pretty good charge, until some parent threatened to sue him and the
school. I don't know what current was involved, and kids tend to be pretty
healthy, but I've always thought was lucky.

-- 
					George J Wu	

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