How much current goes through me when I touch 120VAC?

[Spork Schivago]

Hello,

I got a quick question. I see on my panel / breaker box, I have breakers rated for 20 amp, 30 amp, 50 amp, and 200 amp. Growing up, I've managed to touch 120VAC here and there. Thankfully, not for long. I know 120VAC can kill and even do damage if you become "locked" to it.

Through my education, I learned 1/10th of an amp is generally enough to kill a person. My understanding with these breakers is that they can safely handle whatever they're rated for before they trip. For example, if I grab hold of the 20 amp breakers hot wire, I wouldn't get 20 amp. If I had equipment that needed 15 amp though, the breaker would be allowing that 15 amp through.

How much current do I get when I touch 120VAC? And what factors could affect that? I'm assuming if I'm wet, that would play a role, right? But what about stuff like sweat? Would that make me wet enough to allow more amperage through my body if I was touching a 120VAC hot line? Enough to cause permanent injury to me? Thanks!

[budm]

Re: How much current goes through me when I touch 120VAC?

Just think of your body as a resistor, the lower the Ohm the more current will flow.

https://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~...l_current.html

[Spork Schivago]

Re: How much current goes through me when I touch 120VAC?

So I can use Ohm's law to get an estimate of how much resistance my body has and I can check my work using my multimeter. The fatter I get, the more resistance my body has or doesn't weight play a role at all? You said think of my body as a resistor...the larger the resistor, the less current that flows....does that mean the fatter the person, the less current that flows through them?

[budm]

Re: How much current goes through me when I touch 120VAC?

LOL, I do not know what the Fat resistance is.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2763825/
https://van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=6793

[Spork Schivago]

Re: How much current goes through me when I touch 120VAC?

Thanks Budm! I had electricity applied to my head once and it was enough to knock me out. I was reading how some guy got 120VAC by touching the electrical box that goes from the pole to the house I think. They might have been in a different country and where using different words. Regardless, the company that installed the box for the electric company installed it wrong. The ground was on a mound of dry dirt so it didn't work properly and the hot and cold were switched. He grabbed hold of the door to open it, got his hand stuck there for 5 - 10 seconds. He was finally able to use his legs to push himself off and free himself.

He had all kinds of issues afterwards. One of them was cervical degenerative disease. I have something called Degenerative Disc Disease. They believe the 120VAC caused his problems and gave him 3.3 million. Do you think the electricity that was applied to my head could have caused some of the issues I got?

I mean, it wasn't enough amperage to kill me and the only time I actually blacked out was when it was applied to my head. It was enough to make my muscles contract by themselves and it hurt like hell when it was on my body (not my head). I got these holes in my head, the doc says. In the frontal lobes or something like that. I wonder if that's from the electricity that I got to my head.

[Sparkey55]

Re: How much current goes through me when I touch 120VAC?

Hello,

I got a quick question. I see on my panel / breaker box, I have breakers rated for 20 amp, 30 amp, 50 amp, and 200 amp. Growing up, I've managed to touch 120VAC here and there. Thankfully, not for long. I know 120VAC can kill and even do damage if you become "locked" to it.

Through my education, I learned 1/10th of an amp is generally enough to kill a person. My understanding with these breakers is that they can safely handle whatever they're rated for before they trip. For example, if I grab hold of the 20 amp breakers hot wire, I wouldn't get 20 amp. If I had equipment that needed 15 amp though, the breaker would be allowing that 15 amp through.

How much current do I get when I touch 120VAC? And what factors could affect that? I'm assuming if I'm wet, that would play a role, right? But what about stuff like sweat? Would that make me wet enough to allow more amperage through my body if I was touching a 120VAC hot line? Enough to cause permanent injury to me? Thanks!

The answer my friend can be found easily by experimentation. But before you do that make sure that you have updated your last will and testament and checked to make certain that your life insurance is up to date. Good luck.

[Spork Schivago]

Re: How much current goes through me when I touch 120VAC?

The answer my friend can be found easily by experimentation. But before you do that make sure that you have updated your last will and testament and checked to make certain that your life insurance is up to date. Good luck.

LOL! Thanks, I think I'll pass on the experimentation. I just couldn't figure out why sometimes 120 just hurts, othertimes it kills. I think Budm gave me the answer here, it's all about the resistance. The lower the resistance, the more the current.

Weird bit of tidbit, I think around 100 milliamps, you got a good chance of dying but around 200 or more milliamps, you have a lesser chance. Something about the heart clenching up or something so it cannot go into defibrillation or something like that. Maybe that's why some people who get struck by lightning can survive.

[Sparkey55]

Re: How much current goes through me when I touch 120VAC?

LOL! Thanks, I think I'll pass on the experimentation. I just couldn't figure out why sometimes 120 just hurts, othertimes it kills. I think Budm gave me the answer here, it's all about the resistance. The lower the resistance, the more the current.

Weird bit of tidbit, I think around 100 milliamps, you got a good chance of dying but around 200 or more milliamps, you have a lesser chance. Something about the heart clenching up or something so it cannot go into defibrillation or something like that. Maybe that's why some people who get struck by lightning can survive.

I was taught in the Army that as little as 1MA of AC at 90 VAC or better could be lethal under the right conditions. Lightining has an RF component around the VLF range such it will have a tendency to have a Skin Effect, that is most of the current travels on the outer surface of the conductor.

[rhomanski]

Re: How much current goes through me when I touch 120VAC?

My high school electronics teacher told us he touched a hot wire in his breaker box. It blew him backwards and he lost his wedding ring when it flew off his finger. He showed us pictures of others that were not so lucky. Most clamped on until their watch or ring got hot enough to burn through the bone. They lost that hand or finger. A few years later, a girl I met had a little brother climb a ladder and grab the power wire coming into the house. He lost his hand too.

A guy working with me was replacing fluorescent bulbs on an L-1011 one day. He had never done it before and I warned him to turn that one off before trying. They had a little connector that was spring loaded and slid around the end of the bulb. It had wire on it of course, but sometimes the conducter would touch the spring and give you a little surprise. One of them caught him, 450volts AC. Knocked him off his feet as he was standing on the seats. He picked himself up and turned them off after that. That poor guy had a rough first week. The day before, he was working with a friend of mind and he was changing a hydraulic motor. My friend thought he had relieved the head pressure but he got the wrong system. As soon as John cracked the hydraulic line he got soaked in fluid. No wonder he quit a few years later.

[Per Hansson]

Re: How much current goes through me when I touch 120VAC?

All that's important is how you are grounded, and by that how well you conduct internally.
I've gotten hit by 230VAC while only feeling a small tingle, because I was not grounded properly.
I've also been blown back by 160VDC this time because I was properly grounded to the chassis.
So the voltage is not the issue, it's how much current flows inside your body.

[caphair]

Re: How much current goes through me when I touch 120VAC?

I believe AC can be more dangerous because your body acts like a capacitor thus it can still flow through you even if you're not grounded.

With DC you need to be grounded for the electricity to complete the path through your body (if it's strong enough)

Have a look at this chart

[keeney123]

Re: How much current goes through me when I touch 120VAC?

So real dry skin has about 50,000 ohms of resistance. Once the electricity goes through the skin it has many avenues of condition. We are made up of 70% H2O. Many people die because the current goes across their hearts from one hand to the other. So if there is a potential difference between your hands that is real bad. I have heard that AC is worse because it operates near the frequency that are nervous system operates at. If you have ever been stung by DC I think it hurts more.especial a car battery. It kind of just burns through you.

[stj]

Re: How much current goes through me when I touch 120VAC?

you shouldnt wear jewelry or watches when working on high voltage.

infact you probably shouldnt wear them for any type of manual labour.
ever seen a dumb cook with their hands in a bowl of something with a bunch of rings on - i have!

and you dont want to smash your watch working on a car - seen that happen!

[Spork Schivago]

Re: How much current goes through me when I touch 120VAC?

I was taught in the Army that as little as 1MA of AC at 90 VAC or better could be lethal under the right conditions. Lightining has an RF component around the VLF range such it will have a tendency to have a Skin Effect, that is most of the current travels on the outer surface of the conductor.

What do you mean by the RF component around the VLF range? VLF is Very Low Frequency, RF is Radio Frequency, right? How does the frequency of electricity play a part here? Thanks for explaining this to me!

[Spork Schivago]

Re: How much current goes through me when I touch 120VAC?

My high school electronics teacher told us he touched a hot wire in his breaker box. It blew him backwards and he lost his wedding ring when it flew off his finger. He showed us pictures of others that were not so lucky. Most clamped on until their watch or ring got hot enough to burn through the bone. They lost that hand or finger. A few years later, a girl I met had a little brother climb a ladder and grab the power wire coming into the house. He lost his hand too.

So, this has me a little confused here. I understand the wires coming into the house, into the fuse box, the really really big ones, that come from the pole, they have the ability to carry more current because they're physically larger. But my resistance is what matters, as to how much current goes through my body, right? How come when I was a child, sticking a screwdriver in the outlet was horrible experience but I kept all my body parts and to my knowledge, didn't have any noticeable permanent damage, but if I were to touch one of those lines going into the house, my hand might explode?

[Spork Schivago]

Re: How much current goes through me when I touch 120VAC?

All that's important is how you are grounded, and by that how well you conduct internally.
I've gotten hit by 230VAC while only feeling a small tingle, because I was not grounded properly.
I've also been blown back by 160VDC this time because I was properly grounded to the chassis.
So the voltage is not the issue, it's how much current flows inside your body.

I think I understand this. I have just as much chance of being killed by 120VAC as I do something like 50,000VAC. It just matters which ones allow more current to flow through my body.

[Spork Schivago]

Re: How much current goes through me when I touch 120VAC?

I believe AC can be more dangerous because your body acts like a capacitor thus it can still flow through you even if you're not grounded.

With DC you need to be grounded for the electricity to complete the path through your body (if it's strong enough)

Have a look at this chart

There was a guy down in Florida (when we went on a mini-vacation / party spree) that bet me 5$ he could stick a screwdriver in the outlet, touch the metal part and not get shocked. I took the bet because I had done this and got shocked when I was a kid! Sure enough, he stuck it in each hole and didn't get shocked. He said it was because he wasn't grounded. Something about his shoes were acting as an insulator. So, is this true? From my understanding of electricity, it makes sense, but from what you're saying here, it's a bit of the opposite? Even if you're not grounded, AC can still flow through you?

Just curious as to why the guy didn't get shocked.

[stj]

Re: How much current goes through me when I touch 120VAC?

yes - it can use your body as an antenna and connect with the static field in the air - dont try that trick in a place with damp air!

[Per Hansson]

Re: How much current goes through me when I touch 120VAC?

As I said before as long as there is no return path to ground you are safe, you can touch whatever high voltage circuit you imagine.
But with a caveat, as stj mentions there might be paths to ground that are not immediately apparent.
Watch some movies on Youtube of how choppers are used to perform maintaince on live circuits.
They still have to bring the chopper to the potential of the circuit, otherwise bad stuff will happen and they die.
Now you have probably seen birds land on high power lines, it's the same principle.
The bird is just smaller and so does not suffer the same fate as the chopper.
Now consider this: have you ever seen a bird on a ultras high voltage line? (Think 440kV)

[Spork Schivago]

Re: How much current goes through me when I touch 120VAC?

As I said before as long as there is no return path to ground you are safe, you can touch whatever high voltage circuit you imagine.
But with a caveat, as stj mentions there might be paths to ground that are not immediately apparent.
Watch some movies on Youtube of how choppers are used to perform maintaince on live circuits.
They still have to bring the chopper to the potential of the circuit, otherwise bad stuff will happen and they die.
Now you have probably seen birds land on high power lines, it's the same principle.
The bird is just smaller and so does not suffer the same fate as the chopper.
Now consider this: have you ever seen a bird on a ultras high voltage line? (Think 440kV)

Thanks. So, Caphair was kinda wrong, in the sense that you need to be grounded to get shocked by AC, but you might not realize you're grounded...it might find a weird path to ground and a person might not realize they're actually grounded?

I'm not sure I know what 440kV lines would look like. We have lines going to our telephone. Birds sit on the lines all the time, but when I was a child, I watched two of them fry. It smelled so bad. They were big white birds. I think it was my dad who said they must have touched the pole when they were on the wires or something. There was a lot of sparks. We had one of those giant drums there, I think they call them transformers. I don't remember if the electricity went out and if the electric company had to come, but it was insane.

I've heard stories from my now-dead Uncle about a guy who used to climb these metal towers and swing over to the high voltage power lines. I bet they're probably something insane, like 440kV. Anyway, he was showing off for the girls but I guess one day, he didn't clear the tower good enough and was still connected a bit. That was the end of him, from what my Uncle used to say.