[Amps] Here's a Shocker

[Bill Turner]

On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 16:38:38 -0500, Will Matney wrote:

>They had a 
>ground patch on my right thigh and the arc from a small needle probe 
>held by hand. The current must be really low on this I guess. I can say 
>this, the worst part of the experience was the smell off the burning flesh.

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I suspect the current was actually pretty high if it actually burned
your flesh.  You didn't feel it because the frequency was too high.
Years ago I did some experiments with some variable frequency AC to
get a rough idea what kind of sensitivity people had.  I found that
frequencies above about 600-800 Hz can not be felt by most people,
regardless of the voltage (within reason, of course).

Which makes me wonder if it wouldn't be good to have our AC power
lines run at about 1000 Hz or so.  No more shocks, no more accidental
electrocutions.  The worst that could happen would be a burn.
Something to think about, eh?

I know the arguments against it - transmission loss being the most
significant - but someday when houses have their own little nuclear
generators and are "off the grid" it might be something to consider.

Back on topic.

--
Bill W6WRT