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As opposed to sustained electric shock via DC or AC?

I might be wrong, but when people are killed by electrocution it is usually due to a large current of very short duration passing through their bodies. And perhaps the electronics stack exchange is the wrong place to discuss something so macabre (if it is please direct me to the appropriate community), but I am asking this question in regards to the Electric chair. Could the electric chair be made more lethally efficient by using a high voltage Marx generator delivering a very large pulse of current into the executee, killing them instantly instead of having to deliver multiple shocks until they're deceased?

feetwet
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Mr X
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  • Electric chairs deliver multiple shocks? I didn't know that. Seems kind of pointless. Maybe it's a cost or safety limitation. – DKNguyen May 19 '19 at 04:28
  • @Toor they actually do. Large AC currents of 10 to 20 amps at high voltage cause tissue to burn. You'd think they'd use current in the 100 to 200 mA range which causes fibrillation of the heart and sustain it for at least 3 minutes at high enough voltage so that the power going through the executee is in the kilowatt range. – Mr X May 19 '19 at 19:00
  • As an aside: The electric chair shouldn’t exist. It was never necessary – not even at the time when it was invented. Compressed industrial nitrogen in gas cylinders was available in 1899. Compared to nitrogen induced anoxia, electrocution is tantamount to torture. Anyone thinking of “better ways” of doing it should stop that line of thought. The best way is not to do it. If we insist on killing people in the name of legal process, inert gas anoxia is the least traumatizing process - as long as the gas is not carbon oxide (be it di- or mono-). – Kuba hasn't forgotten Monica Jun 15 '22 at 02:18

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No they are not .Electric fences operate on a CDI principle and can produce short duration peak currents of amperes .They are not lethal .

Autistic
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    They do occasionally kill animals who get wrapped up and can't escape, and so suffer multiple pulses. But this does not invalidate your point. – user57037 May 19 '19 at 04:59
  • @Autistic: According to this article here: https://www.agrisellex.co.uk/blogs/blog/are-electric-fences-a-serious-safety-risk-to-humans , electric fences are designed to be high voltage but low current in order not to kill or seriously injure humans and animals that come into contact with it. – Mr X May 19 '19 at 07:23
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"Instant death" happens when the whole body is instantly destroyed. Normal death happens gradually, with different parts dying over minutes, hours and days. Galvani demonstrated that the muscles of frogs legs were still alive after the frog was dead and dissected (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Galvani)

The heart is very sensitive to small currents, particularly at frequencies which interfere with the normal heart-beat signal. This is a particular problem with open-heart surgery, where care must be taken to keep the heart isolated from small stray currents in the equipment.

When the heart is not open and directly connected, it is partly protected by alternate paths through the body, but it is still possible to get enough current through the heart to disrupt normal rhythms, particularly when doing something like putting current through one hand to the opposite foot.

After the heart muscles loose rhythm, and stop pumping, 'death' happens after 15~30 seconds (as with hanging or decapitation). You loose consciousness and don't revive without intervention.

You could design an electric chair that uses small amounts of AC current correctly connected, but it's a bit more difficult than the alternative of just connecting a massive power source and cooking the victim.

david
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