> >They also make a spectacular orange burst of flame about a meter long
> >when plugged into the 110V power line.
>
> How do you know that ?

How do you think!?

Back in college around 1976 or so, I ended up with a junker phone for some
reason.  I don't remember what prompted it, but I think someone made some
claims about phones and 120V AC lines that I thought were ludicrous.
Eventually it was agreed the argument could be settled by whether the carbon
mouthpiece could withstand line voltage.  I knew it couldn't, so I soldered
the ends of a power cord to it, shut off the circuit breaker, and plugge in
the mic.  The outlet and the breaker box were in the same hallway, about 30
feet apart.  A crowd stood by the breaker box as I flipped the breaker.
BOOM!  Even more impressive than I had expected.


********************************************************************
Olin Lathrop, embedded systems consultant in Littleton Massachusetts
(978) 742-9014, olin@embedinc.com, http://www.embedinc.com

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