I suspect that 100% of people in the engineering profession have experienced it because we tend to ask "I wonder what happens when......?"
Doug --- drcuthb...@micron.com wrote: > Ken, > > Interesting that you say "I suspect just about anyone living > in the > civilized world in the latter half of the 20th or beginning of > the 21st > century has at one time or other experienced a one-handed > shock." I took > an > informal survey a number of years ago was amazed to discover > that > although 100% of males have received > Electrical shocks, less than 50% of females have ever received > anything > other than a > Static discharge. I once witnessed a female receiving her > first > (electrical) shock > as she grabbed the 400 volt cathode/grid leads of an electron > tube. It > was something to behold. > I have had so many shocks (one resulted in a ride to the > hospital) that > I can now barely feel 115 VAC hand-to-hand. > I used to design and repair HV equipment and had not enough > respect for > circuits below 1 kV. But, other > than being somewhat immune to 115 VAC I don't seem to have any > other > after effects that I know of. > > Dave Cuthbert > > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-emc-p...@listserv.ieee.org > [mailto:owner-emc-p...@listserv.ieee.org] On Behalf Of Ken > Javor > Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2004 4:25 PM > To: emc-p...@ieee.org > Subject: Re: Is one-handed electrical shock possible? > > > There have been a great many anecdotal tales submitted, and I > could add > my > own hair-raising adventures. I suspect just about anyone > living in the > civilized world in the latter half of the 20th or beginning of > the 21st > century has at one time or other experienced a one-handed > shock. > > So the possibility exists, it is undeniable. What is less > clear to me, > and > what I believe was the point of the original post, and which > has not > been > answered at least to my understanding, is how does it happen? > > To my way of looking at it, the resistance/capacitance of the > human body > is > not an issue; if you place mains potential across the body, > current will > flow and damage will ensue. What is interesting is that the > one-handed > shock can occur when the body is (again, to my understanding) > ungrounded > and > potentially speaking, floating. The last time I got shocked I > was doing > something very similar to Mr. McInturff. Having for the third > time > bought a > new (for me) home in Alabama, I was going through the ritual > of rotating > the > electrical outlets. For some reason older homes in Alabama > have the > outlets > installed with the safety ground jack up instead of down. > Sometimes > that is > inconvenient, so I rotate them. Like Mr. McInturff, I didn't > want to > throw > the breaker and was trying to be careful. > > I was sitting on the floor. The floor is covered with > wall-to-wall > carpet, > which is likely man-made, say nylon or rayon, a pretty good > insulator. > Underneath the carpet is the pad, again insulator. Underneath > the pad > is > the concrete slab. Probably a conductor at a high enough > potential, but > I > would expect a pretty good insulator at 120 Vac. > > Well, I pulled a McInturff and got a good buzz. I don't know > if it was > surprise or muscular contraction, but my leg shot out and I > almost broke > something. > > I think 1 mA is supposed to elicit a "surprise" reaction. > Someone on > the > list please correct me if I'm wrong. If 1 mA was coursing > though my > body, > that means that the line-to-ground resistance total was only > 120 kOhms. > I > can't account for that. > > Comments? > > Ken Javor > > > This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering > Society > emc-pstc discussion list. Website: > http://www.ieee-pses.org/ > > To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to > emc-p...@ieee.org > > Instructions: > http://listserv.ieee.org/listserv/request/user-guide.html > > List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html > > For help, send mail to the list administrators: > > Ron Pickard: emc-p...@hypercom.com > Scott Douglas emcp...@ptcnh.net > > For policy questions, send mail to: > > Richard Nute: ri...@ieee.org > Jim Bacher: j.bac...@ieee.org > > All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web > at: > > http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc > > > This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering > Society > emc-pstc discussion list. Website: > http://www.ieee-pses.org/ > > To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to > emc-p...@ieee.org > > Instructions: > http://listserv.ieee.org/listserv/request/user-guide.html > > List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html > > For help, send mail to the list administrators: > > Ron Pickard: emc-p...@hypercom.com > Scott Douglas emcp...@ptcnh.net > > For policy questions, send mail to: > > Richard Nute: ri...@ieee.org > Jim Bacher: j.bac...@ieee.org > > All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web > at: > > http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc > ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to emc-p...@ieee.org Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/listserv/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Ron Pickard: emc-p...@hypercom.com Scott Douglas emcp...@ptcnh.net For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: ri...@ieee.org Jim Bacher: j.bac...@ieee.org All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc
