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Which causes death of human when a certain amount of current passes through him? And what is the maximum current a human can bear?

Fahad Naeem
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  • Don't you mean maximum? – Daniel Node.js Jan 30 '14 at 05:08
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    This question appears to be off-topic because it is about medicine, not electronics design. – Dave Tweed Jan 30 '14 at 05:33
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    You can read [similar question 1](http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/60198/why-are-typically-fatal-currents-non-lethal-when-they-pass-through-your-body-for), [similar question 2](http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/19103/how-much-voltage-is-dangerous/19124#19124), [similar question 3](http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/9222/safe-current-limit-for-human-contact), [similar question 4](http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/97399/how-did-i-survive-a-short-hand-to-hand-230v-shock/97403#97403) – alexan_e Jan 30 '14 at 07:56
  • Related/duplicate: http://electronics.stackexchange.com/q/19103/2028 and http://electronics.stackexchange.com/q/9222/2028 – JYelton Jan 30 '14 at 16:57
  • Related video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xONZcBJh5A – JYelton Feb 01 '14 at 08:55

2 Answers2

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Actually your question contains a lot of variables. And also it depends on person to person(not very much difference though). But for average calculation I say, 100 volts at 100 milli-amperes for say just over a second or two is enough to kill a person.

radiantshaw
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10mA through the heart can be enough to kill a person, regardless of voltage.

Normally, your skin has very high resistance. But if electrical current manages to get to the heart by any means, low voltage can be fatal since your internals have a lot lower resistance than your skin.

JYelton
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Pyxzure
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    I would prefer CAN BE instead of IS. AFAIK there is no guarantee that 10 mA will kill. – Wouter van Ooijen Jan 30 '14 at 06:34
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    It's good to have authoritative references in answers of this kind, such as *"While any amount of current over 10 milliamps (0.01 amp) is capable of producing painful to severe shock, currents between 100 and 200 mA (0.1 to 0.2 amp) are lethal. Currents above 200 milliamps (0.2 amp), while producing severe burns and unconsciousness, do not usually cause death if the victim is given immediate attention. Resuscitation, consisting of artificial respiration, will usually revive the victim."* - [Ohio-State U](http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~p616/safety/fatal_current.html) – RedGrittyBrick Jan 30 '14 at 09:42
  • I'm not sure why this was accepted, because it doesn't answer the question at all. The question wasn't what is the minimum current that can possibly be lethal. As noted in the comment above, 100-200 mA is almost automatically lethal, but _higher_ currents are survivable because they don't cause ventricular fibrillation. The question for which I came here looking for an answer was _how much_ higher can the current go before it's automatically fatal. There has to be a point where the current is so high it instantly fries you. That question, which is also the OP's question, remains unanswered. – Adi Inbar Jul 31 '19 at 12:03
  • Oh, I just noticed, the question originally said "minimum", which didn't even makes sense, because the human body can bear a current of zero, except the miniscule current that flows across cell membranes as ions are pumped in and out. In any case, the question of what is the maximum remains unanswered. – Adi Inbar Jul 31 '19 at 12:12