What would happen if I touch a +12V DC line that can supply up to 6
Amps, will I die? Or just get really hurt?
Ive only been electrocuted once, by a throwaway camera strobe flash
capacitor.
I am standing with or without shoes on a floor, my hands have normal
moisture content.
2006-08-25 17:09:44 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Yes, I know it is current that is the real killer, not voltage. Here I am stating a power supply that can provide up to 6 Amps. Me as a "load" will try to grab as much current as possible, What will 6 Amps do?
2006-08-25 17:15:28 · update #1
I NEVER said i was going to touch it!!! I just got a PSU that has these specs and was just wondering.
2006-08-25 17:24:17 · update #2
aaron, that story you posted was quite freaky. He must have been stabbing himself with the pins on purpose...
2006-08-25 17:26:27 · update #3
You won't even feel it...unless you are talking about sticking it in your mouth or doing it in a bathtub.
2006-08-25 17:12:18 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, nothing will happen to you if you are `grounded' (holding the + 12 V supply line and standing (even with naked legs) on floor with normal moisture content. The `potential difference' is NOT so high as to make current flow through your body as the resistance of the human body is `quite high'.
Capacitor `stores' electrical energy and depending on its value of capacitance, can store high amount of electrical energy. If the potential difference is very high, current will start flowing through the body and that would cause `electrocution'.
A capacitor is like a water tank. Even if the water tap filling it delivers only a small quantity at any given time, once the water tap is left open, after some time the whole tank will be full. Now if you make a hole at the bottom of the tank, the water will gush out with force. Larger the tank, more force with which water will gush out.
Hope this helps.
S. Gopal
Bangalore
India
2006-08-25 17:37:38 · answer #2 · answered by S. G 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends on where the current enters and where it leaves. Close a circuit with your finger and your hand will spasm and maybe your flesh will get burnt. Close the circuit with both hands - one grabbing each node - and you're probably toast. The 'millionth of an amp' answer and the static shock one have some validity together. What kills you with electricity is usually either sending your heart into spasms - which CAN happen with very low amperage - or a severe buildup and sudden discharge (like lightning) that either cooks part of you or puts so much juice through you that it has to come out somewhere on the other side of the heart, again causing it to flip.
2006-08-25 17:21:35 · answer #3 · answered by aaron_mucciolo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It takes 50V to break the skin. But for the reason of discussion it would all depend on how you are touching it. If you use one hand and to touch (+) and (-) it will hurt but it can't kill you. Now if you use one hand and touch (+) and then the other hand touches (-) you would be in real trouble if the output power was high enough. To do any real damage you need to make your body a resistor in the circuit.
2006-08-25 18:54:17 · answer #4 · answered by DoctaB01 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you wet your hands and touch a car battery's terminals, you'll get a noticeable tingle. And it's capable of several hundred amps. Your body's resistance keeps the current to a few hundred microamps. So, no... you'll barely feel it.
'Nuff said?
2006-08-25 17:17:00 · answer #5 · answered by Mr. Peachy® 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hi. 12 Volts should not hurt you. Electrocuted means shocked to death. It is voltage with amperage that hurts you, shoes or not.
2006-08-25 17:13:35 · answer #6 · answered by Cirric 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think youll be ok, just use one hand to do whatever it is your doing and keep the other behind your back to keep it from grabbing the line if you do get electrocuted, this way you will not make a circuit that passes thru your heart and kills you.
2006-08-25 17:16:19 · answer #7 · answered by allaboutthefamily 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It doesn't take a lot of electricity to kill a person. "It takes one-millionth of an amp, which is less than a small 25-watt light bulb uses," Wohler said. "It's potentially enough an electric shock to cause your heart to go into defibrillation."
2006-08-25 17:13:51 · answer #8 · answered by gypsie_soul06 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'll be at your funeral....
Nope, just kidding!
You'll get hurt for sure but you won't die.
I myself have cheated death more than once -
I've been zapped more than 8 times, at 120V@20amps! (household current)
The death-by-electrocution is at 10 amps for the average
person, so I consider myself VERY lucky!
2006-08-25 17:26:05 · answer #9 · answered by Ammy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why in the hell would you even want to try some bullsh*t like that? Play some games or something or go do some running or something.
2006-08-25 17:18:04 · answer #10 · answered by mskionnaj 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
at 6 amps on 110 volts you may feel it. but on a 12 volt DC charge. go ahead, touch it. AMPS KILL NOT VOLTS
2006-08-25 17:15:49 · answer #11 · answered by ray_long69 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋