An anecdote: My eldest daughter, at an early age, did place a conductor in a 120V outlet at her grandparents home. As a result of the shock she received, she stopped breathing. Fortunately, my father-in-law was nearby and was able to restart her breathing by only shaking her. If someone were not so alert, she might not be with us, today.
Should someone have been more attentive and known what she was up to? Should the house have been "child-proofed" in the first place? Was the house "child-proofed" afterward? You bet, to each. The current path was most likely through her hand, then torso, then legs (I don't know if she was sitting, kneeling or squatting or else, when she was shocked) to the carpet and some presumptive earth, however tenuous it might be thought of. Some comments: It's important to keep in mind that electric shock body impedance models not only include capacitance, but also resistance. The precise values are dependent on the current path(s) involved, moisture content of contacted surfaces and skin, etc. Pete Perkins or Rich Nute can illuminate the variables better than I. While I have received shocks from both 120V and 240V (from a split-phase source) and can attest that 240V packs a significantly greater wallop, anyone who doubts that 120V electric shocks can be deadly should think again. Regards, Peter L. Tarver, PE [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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: [email protected] Scott Douglas [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: [email protected] Jim Bacher: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc
