At 13.10 21/02/2004 +0000, you wrote: >On Sat, 21 Feb 2004 12:01:58 +0100, Omega Software wrote: > >>Hello, >> >>I've always been curious to know if one can get an electric shock by JU= ST touching the 230V Live wire (not the Neutral). > >In theory, no, you won't get an electric shock just from touching the li= ve wire - assuming you are insulated from your surroundings so that your = body can 'float' to the higher potential of the mains you should be fine. > >>A lot of people keep telling me it's impossible, yet I can measure some= AC voltage between me and the Live wire with my multimeter (pity it cann= ot measure AC current). > >That is because unless you are standing on an insulator like a big plast= ic milk crate, you are connected to ground by whatever is touching the fl= oor. Isn't the floor's ceramics an excellent insulator? > Conductve additives are now added to the soles of most shoes. The above= experiment is dangerous - would you trust your life to a =A36.99 piece o= f equipment, if the resistors in the multimeter were to flash over, you w= oudl get a serious electric shock. > >>Since the AC voltage was something like very few volts, > >Um... 240/110 volts, that is more than enough to push a current of sever= al amps through you. 20ma will usually kill you. > > and my body's >>resistance quite high (at least at those voltages), > >no it isn't - sure you may have a resistance of a few Mohms at loww curr= ents, but during an elctric shock from the mains the current penetrates t= he skin, vapourising it and destroying the cells, the bulk resistance of = your body is quite low once this has happened, typically a few hundred oh= ms. You are basically a big bucket of salty water just waiting to get zap= ped. > >I decided to try an >>experiment, knowing anyway that the "automatic emergency switch" (Groun= d Surge Protection? how is it called?) would have saved me from eventual = annoying problems. > >What, annoying problems... like death. This is a rediculous attitude - a= bit like - my local hospital has a good ER, why don't i go tightrope wal= k across a motorway: the hospital will save me from 'annoying problems' > >> >>I had a green led I wasn't too fond of, so I've put one pin (the anode,= although I doubt that it matters) to the Live wire, and left the cathode= unconnected. I turned on the switch.. and then finally put a finger on t= he cathode, thinking the LED may have started to emit some light. > >Don't do this, you will rapidy remove yourself from the gene pool. > > >>Instead, I heard a loud pop and saw a shiny spark.. while the current i= n the house immediately went away (the automatic emergency switch (lifesa= ver? Ground Surge Protection?) acted). >>The LED wasn't damaged (!), but the pin tied to the Live 230V line was = burned and damaged, so much that it was nearly cut. >>I'd have some questions about the above experiment: >> >>1) Being I insulated from earth, why did the current (and so much of) p= ass anyway? Was I the plate of a "capacitor" to earth? If so, how big? An= d what was the other plate, every thing surrounding me, maybe? > >At 50/60Hz the current flowing due to the 20pF or so of distributed capa= citance is negligible. The reason current was flowing to earth is beacaus= e you were probaly not insulated from earth. > >>2) How much current may have passed through me, if the automatic emerge= ncy switch didn't stop it? > >Enough to stop your heart, enough to give you 3rd degree burns over part= s of your body. > >>3) Why the LED still works perfectly, while one of its pins is so much = damaged? > >what i suspect actually happened is thaf you touched the led and jogged = it into touching the neutral or the earth, if enough current had flowed t= hrough you that you saw sparks you wouldn't have been able to type your e= -mail - theres no cybercafe in whatever from of afterlife you believe in. > >> >>Thanks, >>Andrea > >Please don't do stupid stuff like this again, if you inist on doing it, = make sure you have a parent/supervisor/friend who is trained in CPR to re= cusitate you and take you to hospital in the likely eventuality that you = get a serious electric shock. PS: I think the plug is defective.. the same happened again by just mecha= nical effect (pressing a bit on it). Damn.. it must be defective, that's why the big spark and all. >Reagrds > >Alexander Rice > >-- >http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic: >[PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! [EE]:,[OT]: ->Other [BUY]:,[AD]: ->Ads -- http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic: [PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! [EE]:,[OT]: ->Other [BUY]:,[AD]: ->Ads