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Re:The secret electrostatic world of insects by tgv on Tuesday October 29, 2024 @10:04AM (#41983948)
But can e.g. 3V DC kill? Perhaps by using the body's resistance, but I have the idea that the effect would be different from say 220V AC, which affects the nerves.
Re:The secret electrostatic world of insects by rtkwe on Tuesday October 29, 2024 @10:33AM (#41984232)
Not generally, remember Ohm's Law I = V/R. Internally the body has a resistance of ~300 Ohms as a rough rule while our skin is 1000-10000 depending on the condition and contact area involved.

So 3V isn't going to pose any real risk unless it's applied internally and right across a critical nerve leading to your heart or a muscle directly on the heart. For reference pacemakers are generally set to 2-3 volts. Applied externally up to ~12V is generally considered low enough voltage there's a low risk of truly adverse effects.

Re:The secret electrostatic world of insects by hobs on Tuesday October 29, 2024 @01:25PM (#41987037)
As shown in StyroPyro's video of him laying across dozens of car batteries (and then shorting them through various things) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywaTX-nLm6Y

His entire rig at one point delivered >80k amps, but he's fine.

Re:The secret electrostatic world of insects by capitainenemo on Tuesday October 29, 2024 @03:06PM (#41988195)
Speaking of, he also had this great video on lethality of electricity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGD-oSwJv3E

Re:The secret electrostatic world of insects by BoxOfRain on Tuesday October 29, 2024 @10:56AM (#41984478)
You'd have to really try.

10 milliamps across your heart can kill but using Ohm's law we can calculate 3V / 0.010 A to get a resistance of 300 ohms. This means you're probably still going to have a bad time if you apply it directly across your heart during open-heart surgery but other than that 3 volts just isn't enough to drive a lethal current through your skin.

Re:The secret electrostatic world of insects by jcdny on Tuesday October 29, 2024 @03:03PM (#41988160)
Which is why if caught in a lightning storm you should crouch with feet together and why I try very hard to only use one hand when doing something that might have the potential to shock me.
Re:The secret electrostatic world of insects by mecsred on Tuesday October 29, 2024 @10:15AM (#41984049)
Depends how it's applied and what's sourcing it. 3v does basically nothing to dry skin, but would be quite bad on wires implanted in your chest across your heart.