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2007-03-25 20:37:29 · 7 answers · asked by Mark R 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
100VDC is enough to burn you in you become part of the circuit. You could touch a hot DC wire and it won't shock you, but if you touch one part of a circuit and anouther part of the circuit the DC current will try to find the path of least resistance and will give you a shock.
Since there is no frequency to DC it will not fibulate your heart like AC, however it can cause burns and if you left your body completeing the circuit it would literally cook your flesh.
Basically you'll feel it....but if it passes through you for a split second before you jump back (trust me you will) the most you might get is some burning anound the contact points.
For safety precautions same as all electricity, always de-enegize the circuit if possible, wear insulating gloves and tools.
*****Update******
Although it's true you should always secure power to the circuit when performing work, I've held a job installing Large UPS Systems that weren't allowed to be secured...the battery cabinets were 480VDC (APC silcon UPS's). Sometimes we have to work in the real world, that why I added the "if possible" part...I wasn't allowed to.
People always say it's the amps that kills you, this is just a saying with no merit...it's actually the power (V & A) that hurts you, and it has to have a current path through the heart.
AC does cause fibulation, It's a DC shock thats used to restart the heart.
For example........If you've ever pulled a spark plug wire off while a car was running, then you've been hit by 30,000Volts of DC and there is plenty of amperage behind it. if your left hands on the frame and you pull it off with your right hand that current went through your heart...All you do is jump and start cussing though....meanwhile you stick a fork in a toaster at 110Volts and it can kill you
That's what it would feel like incidently o be shocked by 100Vdc a lot like pulling of a spark plug wire.
****update2*****
first there is no split second to let go of an AC wire it's 60hertz, this is much faster than the human body could react..you feel it just the same as DC... but DC doesn't make you lock on...trust me your body will pull away
but again if you can secure everything and use rubber gloves please do so
2007-03-25 20:45:05 · answer #1 · answered by Justin H 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
DC is far more effective at stopping the heart than AC.
During a heart transplant the heart is stopped using DC and then re-started using an AC defibrillator.
You shouldn't work with 100 V DC if there is any amount of high current going through the circuit - probably in this case a maximum of 1 milliamp (this keeps the power down to around 0.1 Watts and you are less likely to be badly injured if you get an electric shock.)
Remember it is the AMPAGE that kills, not the Potential Difference.
2007-03-26 05:29:29 · answer #2 · answered by Doctor Q 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
DC is more dangerous at higher voltages than AC. At zero point on an AC wave form, there is no voltage and at the top of the wave form there is full voltage. Because there is a split second when there is no voltage your muscles can 'let go' if you accidentally grap a live wire.
However on DC there is a constant voltage which once you have grabbed it, your muscles contract and cant let go.
I have heard of a person who fell accross a bank of batteries at a BT phone exchange and died.
PS: ventricular filbrillation occurs when 50mA flows through the human body. Thats why RCD's providing supplementary protection against indiresct contact for equipment that can resonably be expected to be used outside, are 30mA rated.
Hope this helps and go steady!
2007-03-29 18:04:34 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pommac has the best answer. What on earth are you doing working on a hot circuit, anyway? Check out the report on the accident at the Stanford Linear Accelerator. They had a guy working on a hot circuit because they didn't want to inconvenience the scientists by shutting the system down. Darned near killed him.
And, as regards fibrillation, I am not sure AC is at fault. I believe that there is a certain current range in which the heart fibrillates. Above that and it just closes up.
2007-03-26 04:57:33 · answer #4 · answered by ZORCH 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Simple. Turn off the circuit.
2007-03-26 03:48:19 · answer #5 · answered by Pommac 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you have to ask on here then you shouldn't be doing it.
2007-03-26 03:44:24 · answer #6 · answered by Harry Callaghan 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
use it carefully...... i think so.....
2007-04-03 03:03:23 · answer #7 · answered by cute g 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋