I am wondering how dangerous an electric shock of 120 volts is?

Question

In my apartment, the maintenance person badly wired an electric outlet during a repair, and when I went to switch a nearby light on, I was jolted with a full load. I was not wearing shoes for insulation (just socks). I experienced some moderate pain and tingling in the arm. Is there any chance for long term damage? Or can I assume that there are no serious problems as the pain seems to be receding?

Answer 1

Hi, sorry to here you got bit. That's just a name some electricians give when they get a slight shock.
How many times have your heard that it's not the volts that'll kill you, but the amps? While mostly true (it takes only 100mA to stop your heart), amps and volts are eternally bound together by Ohm's Law:

V = IR

In plain English: volts (V) equals current (I) times resistance (R). So, assuming resistance is constant, voltage and current are in lockstep. As one goes up, so does the other, and vice versa. You can't have a lot of amps without a lot of volts.

So, back to which kills you, the amps or volts. Given your body is a constant resistance, it really is a combination of both. Higher voltage means higher amperage, and thus higher voltage has more potential to kill. It takes only 100mA to stop your heart. I believe the resistance of a person with dry skin is somewhere around 100,000 ohms. This means, even touching 120V is far from lethal. The problem is wet skin is around 1,000 ohms, and the inside of your body is even lower, thus making 120V potentially lethal. So be careful! Have the problem corrected asap.

Answer 2

The volts do not really matter. Since you are still alive, you will probably be ok in a bit. It does mess up your nervous system for a while. Apparently, there weren't a lot of amps behind it. 120 volts can make your muscles tighten up so that you can't even let go of it. A sustained amount can do more damage. I've gotten bit by 277 volt current, with no serious damage. 277 tends to knock you off it right away. Ever grabbed a spark plug wire while the engine was running? That's anywhere from 50 to one hundred thousand volts, but has no amperage at all behind it. That's specifically designed that way so it won't kill you. You should be fine, after a time.

Answer 3

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RE:
I am wondering how dangerous an electric shock of 120 volts is?
In my apartment, the maintenance person badly wired an electric outlet during a repair, and when I went to switch a nearby light on, I was jolted with a full load. I was not wearing shoes for insulation (just socks). I experienced some moderate pain and tingling in the arm. Is there any chance...

Answer 4

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The wattage of the soldering iron is not relevant. I think you meant 60Hz, which is also not particularly relevant. The wattage of the supply is relevant, in that it is far more than required to deliver a lethal shock. The shock and its risk is according to the level of current that flows, which depends on all sorts of factors, basically unknown here. The soldering iron was simply the path the electricity supply took to pass through your body. Normally a soldering iron body is grounded for safety reasons, so touching it is no different to touching a water pipe, except for temperature. The shock you got is caused by some issue with the soldering iron, its power cord or the power outlet. It could also be that the soldering iron or the power outlet is ungrounded, and touched some other voltage source while you were holding it. This is a hazardous situation, so needs to be sorted out before more harm is caused. I don't know what level of shock you got, but it was probably painful or you wouldn't be asking about it. Generally the shock is just that, a fright and a brush with death due to chance that the heart is sent into a tailspin (ventricular fibrillation). You wouldn't be asking us if that had occurred, but it is the main risk. Damage to internal organs is usually accompanied by burns on the skin where contact was made. It is also possible for nerves to be damaged if sufficient current flows, especially around the heart. Look up neuropathy. This is relatively uncommon with so called 'low voltage' from power outlets. If you got electrical burns, a severe shock that knocked you reeling, or feel strange get professional advice or go to a hospital for treatment. Otherwise it is ok after a while, and is strong incentive not to let that happen again. Read all about it in the link below.

Answer 5

120 Volt Shock

Answer 6

1) C 2) B I'm assuming you meant 15 Ohms not Watts 3) A 4) B 5) D 6) B 7) D I'm guessing as I cannot see the manual 8) D 9) B 10) C 11) D 12) D 13) A 14) B 15) D 16) C 17) B 18) B 19) B 20) A I am assuming on some of the questions you have a typo and have put W where Ohms should be. Hope this helps.

Answer 7

It takes 6 milliamps of current to kill you. That is 0.0006 amps. It doesn't matter what the voltage is and it doesn't really matter if you were wearing tennis shoes or not. If the current takes the right path, it will kill you......usually across the chest through the heart. Your muscles react to electrical signals from the brain. When you get shocked, all of your muscles in that area started spasming and those muscles will feel like you just did a 1000 reps during a workout on those particular muscles. As long as you're not experiencing chest pains or irregular pulse, you should be fine. I've taken 277 Volts through my temple once and had a headache ALL DAY LONG......and besides the irregularknvj;ldwnvioawn jitters I getjalfjklafvwaej.....every now and thenkjafklnjasdklfnmsadklfnm........I'm finekhjasklfn;lancvekn......lol.....just kidding. I should have went to the doctor after that happened, but I didn't. I've been shocked several times before that and since then too. Eventually an electrican learns to be careful and turn the power off no matter what. In your case though.......the maintanence dude needs to be fired. Hopefully when you reported it to the main office, they filled out an accident report.......you did fill out an accident report......RIGHT????? Cover your a@# just in case.

Answer 8

There will be no long term damage if the pain is getting better. More people are killed with 120 volts than any other voltage. An unlicensed person doing electrical work I imagine. What were you standing on or touching. Email me if you would about the details.

Any so called electrician who gets shocks is a piss poor electrician. He wouldn't work for me. Or anywhere around me.

Answer 9

Nothing will come of it. Amperage has more to do with the fatality of a shock. Really, the only way that shock from an outlet can be dangerous is if you close a circuit with your body in which the electricity passes through your heart. However, I would suggest getting that fixed since although you probably will not die from shock, you could easily die from a fire that is started from the outlet shorting out.

Answer 10

You should still see a Dr. the electricity goes in and has to come out somewhere, sometimes it can damage your vital orgens... Better be safe than sorry, get looked at by Dr.