Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange
Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [electrocution]

25 questions
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Electrocuting a fruit fly using magnetic induction

We are electrically inducing heart attacks in fruit flies to test the effects of various treatments on survival. We are shooting for roughly a 50% survival recovery rate in our control group. I work with a lab that is studying cardiac function in…
user146252
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Dangerous step potential with low (line) voltage possible?

I've always read about step potential in terms of substations and high voltage powerlines, where we are talking in the kilovolt+ range. What if there is a manhole cover and a mains(240V/400V) wire touching it and making it live? Given that the…
alex.b.bg
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Electric shock from laptop

This is something that happened recently. I was casually using my laptop with the laptop placed on a table, charging and my feet on the marble floor below. Only one of my feet was in contact with the floor and that too was not completely in contact…
Rajdeep Sindhu
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Are large pulsed currents the most deadly type of electric shock?

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…
Mr X
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How did my rabbit not get electrocuted?

So, I'm sitting here looking at a chewed up extension cord that I just unplugged from the wall out of fear. Both the neutral and hot sides (no ground) have been chewed to (and part way through) the bare copper. My rabbit is nuts, I know, but did she…
Phil Kulak
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Is it wattage that kills you and not specifically amps

First of all the actual amounts needed to kill and the body resistance is not important for this scenario. Let's say we are working with dc. Let's say that 100ma is enough to kill across the chest give or take. Let's say we have a generator with a…
Alan Wolstenholme
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How does electrocution (fatal) happen?

I'm trying to make my workshop safer but I can't understand how electrocution happens. For example, one hand is touching to live wire and neutral wire is not touched. If I know right, current flows from live wire to my body and to ground wire or…
Mordecai
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How lucky am I to be alive? (electrocution)

When I was 18 I lived in a new apartment in Florida. One evening I was cooking dinner in the 240VAC electric oven. I had my hand on the oven door and reached over to open the 'fridge. At that moment I learned the hard way that the oven had been…
Duncan C
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Can a person suffer mild electrocution if he answers a charging phone with wet hands or sweaty palms?

This texas girl got electrocuted and died while using her cellphone in the bathtub. Can a person with wet hands or sweaty palms face mild electrocution if he answers the phone while it is being…
user768421
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Electrocution Risk in Swimming Pool

Have what I'm sure will seem like a strange question but it is important so if someone could help I would appreciate it. Have a son who is developmentally disabled and he has a thing for water hoses in pools or hot tubs. A picture of him is…
Jeff Boyd
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If a broken powerline touches the metal body of my car, can I touch any metal parts of my car while sitting inside of it?

Consider the following situation. I parked my car underneath some high-voltage lines – let’s say 380 kV-lines. Suddenly, one of the lines breaks in the middle due to a storm and one end of the (still energized) line now touches the metal body of my…
ilovemaths
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Possible downstream dangers of common 5Vdc power supplies

Let's say you have a 5Vdc/2A power supply that is hooked to some kind of power transformer or DC/AC converter that generates 120V+. The example I am thinking of is a nixie clock device that is powered by 5Vdc but is able to light the USSR Nixie…
anon789
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Electricity, circuits and grounding

If there is no utility company grounding rod for electricity to complete a circuit, can electricity still flow to the earth, i.e. the earth (planet) being some kind of sink hole. This would mean no circuit is completed however. If the answer is no,…
Richard H
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Is it normal to have around 40 V in your body, when touching your plugged, ungrounded laptop?

I have had bilateral shoulder pain and then both arms and hands pain for around 7 mounts, which got much worse when I started working from home, with my laptop. The ultrasound of shoulder muscles revealed tendonitis which means inflammation in…
Reza-sh
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Earthing and electrocution

I have seen many videos about earthing but I couldn't understanding why the current would flow from live to ground (earth) if one touched a live wire. Suppose I am in a house and I touch a live wire while standing barefoot on a concrete…
user268759
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