Sticking ur hand into the wires of a lightswitch

[Karakaz]

You need to take a basic course in electricity. The chances of it going through your body (thus through your heart) is multiplied many times by not wearing shoes.

[d10]

[ QUOTE ]
if you live in north America you are on 120V circuit you feel a mild buzz and shock and maybe a tingle for a few minutes. you can get zapped just for fun without doing any serious damage (as long as you are not wet) if you live in Europe or elsewhere chances are you have a 220V circuit then its a painful zap which would leave the affected area pretty sore for a few hours, death or serious injury is much more likely in this scenario if you mess around.

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you implying that higher voltage is more likely to kill you?

[kurosh]

[ QUOTE ]
if you live in north America you are on 120V circuit you feel a mild buzz and shock and maybe a tingle for a few minutes. you can get zapped just for fun without doing any serious damage (as long as you are not wet) if you live in Europe or elsewhere chances are you have a 220V circuit then its a painful zap which would leave the affected area pretty sore for a few hours, death or serious injury is much more likely in this scenario if you mess around.

also sticking your hand in the wire box wont do anything you need to unscrew the murret (little colour coded plastic caps) and touch where the wires meet. also wearing shoes might be a good idea

[/ QUOTE ]Can't believe no one has caught this yet. Basic physics... voltage has nothing to do with how much damage it will cause you. It depends on the amperage.

How badly you get electricuted depends on the strength of the connection between you to the socket and you to the ground. If you're standing on the ground without shoes and touching it with your bare hand, you will probably die. Unless there is some sort of safety mechanism, which there is in most households. Circuit breakers and fuses prevent you from getting electricuted too badly. There might be limitations on the power coming into the house, but there's probably still enough to kill you.

[Tony_P]

[ QUOTE ]
You need to take a basic course in electricity. The chances of it going through your body (thus through your heart) is multiplied many times by not wearing shoes.

[/ QUOTE ]

you are going to be grounded by the lightbox anyway. I don't think it will matter much.

[d10]

[ QUOTE ]
Can't believe no one has caught this yet. Basic physics... voltage has nothing to do with how much damage it will cause you. It depends on the amperage.

[/ QUOTE ]

I caught it, I just wanted to make sure he wasn't talking about something unrelated to voltage that just happened to make European outlets more dangerous. He was mostly saying that higher voltage is more painful, which is correct.

[mostsmooth]

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There might be limitations on the power coming into the house, but there's probably still enough to kill you.

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the minimum amperage required for death is much less than 1 amp. ive seen 1 milliamp stated as enough to kill you. common residential circuits in the US have 20amp breakers.