What determines the severity of a shock? Can you say that a certain voltage is hazardous without further information?
Solution 21CQ
The severity of a shock hazard is determined by,
(a) Duration of contact between the body and the current carrying material.
(b) The resistance offered by the body, the status of the body, whether the skin is wet or dry.
(c) The path chosen by the current to flow through the body.
(d) Insulation provided between the body and the natural sink (the Earth).
(e) Voltage across the wire or the current carrying material.
(f) Whether the current carrying material is touched or grabbed.
(g) Amount of water present in the body at that particular time.
(h) Magnitude of the current passed through the body.
(i) Frequency of the alternating current.
No, we cannot say that a certain voltage is hazardous or not, without knowing the resistance offered by the body or the amount of the current transmitted through the body as the current transmitted is depended both on the voltage across the terminals and the resistance offered by the conducting material.
