Now before I am branded an idjit, there is a simple and logical explanation for this...
I was walking around in the basement when I came across what appeared to be a burned out light-bulb. Upon further inspection(and removal of the light-bulb) I realized that the light-bulb was actually screwed into the base of another light-bulb that must have been broken by someone. Now my first thought was that maybe walking around in the dark barefoot with possible broken glass was bad, but I hadn't stepped on any yet so I stayed put.  I then figured I should cut the power...but the circuit-breaker was beyond the broken glass so I said screw it, I'm going to unscrew it.[;)](50/50 chance right?) Well since I am writing this it is safe to assume that I got a little zap.

It felt kind of weird, and tingly.[shock]  Could sticking your finger in a light socket be harmful in a fatal kind of way? (I am only asking this because since greg1911 shot himself I don't feel so stooopid)

Yes you can definately be killed by household current, especially walking barefoot on concrete floor. Concrete holds moisture and you are grounded by being barefoot.

The easiest thing to do with consumer proudcts is simply unplug them. If something cannot be unplugged you must turn off the circuit breaker / fuse, then verify there is no power.

Would the voltage been the normal 220 volts or would it have been the bulb's wattage(70)?

btw, I used my right arm since I have heard that the current tends to stay on the right side instead of passing through your heart.

No, normal household voltage in the US is 120 volts. Houses are wired for 220 volt also but that normally is only used for the AC, furnace and other large appliances.

Wattage refers to how much power an appliance draws while it is running.

Be careful, it takes very little current to kill you if it happens to pass thru your heart and stop it from beating.

110, 111 (volts)...whatever it takes!

I got zapped by 50,000 volts once.  It was ONLY 100 millivolts, I think.  (actually I don't think so well any more!)  I was working for a neon sign company, burning in the sign and covering the electrodes with this thick grey 'paint'.  I bumped the top of the paint can and it made contact with the electrode.....ZZZZZZzzzzzzzaaaaaaaaaappppppppp!!!!!!!!!  [shock]  I pulled my arm back and this cool little lightning bolt went from the electrode to my finger tip. SMOKIN"!!  Don't try this at home.  I'm a/was a professional!  Felt like someone punched me in the arm for about 6-8 hours.  Most people tell me I'm abby normal to this day. [BD]


Tim L.
[):)]

Hahaha.... I forget what movie that was in...


IIRC, the voltage doesn't matter (as much as current), BUT .05 amps is enough to kill you.

Movie name: "Mr. Mom".

BAN ELECTRICITY !!!

I got zapped by 180v DC last year, trying to unhook a servo that was still getting the 'home' command from the computer. Talk about waking you up first thing in the morning.

Dumb Dumb Dumb

shocking, absolutely shocking!

I got nailed by 600VDC once - it arced to my finger (about 1/4" away) and went out the bottom of my shoe into the leg of the metal stool I was sitting on. It left me on the floor and dazed.

Ummmmm, 50k volts pumped out at 1.76 joules for a solid 4 seconds via a Taser!

As many of you might recall, this Taser hit was at ShotShow in February, and I'm still suffering severe spinal pain on a daily basis!

Man, all I see here is the makings of Electricity 101. [;)]

What kills is current, or amperage, which is the number of electrons flowing through the body.  A very tiny number of electrons flowing through the body is harmless.  A shitload does bad things, like put muscles into tetany and barbeque the flesh.

The body has an intrinsic resistance, measured in ohms, that can vary because of physiological factors and the path of measurement.  As the name implies, the higher the resistance, the harder it is to push electrons through the body.

Voltage is pressure.  If the resistance is high, a high voltage is required to push a given number of electrons through the body.  Cut the resistance in half, and only half as much pressure, i.e., voltage, is required to make the same current flow.

One more viaiable in all of this is available source current.  A car battery provides 12 volts of pressure, but has enough electrons stored in it to briefly supply a huge amount of current, maybe a 100 amps (not real sure of exact figure).  I can also hook up 8 AA cells in series and also get a 12 volt supply, but it can only provide a tiny fraction of the current available from a car battery,

So, a 50,000 volt Van de Graaff generator can supply only a milliamp (again, not sure of exact numbers), and this is not enough current to be dangerous despite the fact that it is being pushed by 50,000 volts.  You'll feel it, though. [:)]

Most household circuits can supply 15 or 20 amps, as you know, at 120 VAC.  However, the resistance of the human body tends to be high.  Turn on an ohmmeter and grab a probe with each hand and it will probably read 100,000+ ohms.  The actual current that flows depends on your resistance, and the path through the body.  Obviously, if you touch a live wire with you hands and are grounded by your bare feet, the current will travel the length of your body and go through internal organs in the process.  Not good.

Obviously, not pulling the breaker before working on a circuit is little different than trying to clean a firearm while it is still loaded.  Both can get you removed from the gene pool in short order.

I hope you did not find my little expose shocking [shock] [:D]

AC can be much more deadly than DC, as Edison proved with the electric chair.

Firstly, you are lucky to be alive.  It is not an urban myth that 120v house current kills more people annually than any other form of electrical current.  The reason so many die by electrocution is that we tend to take this seemingly small voltage for granted.

120v is truly a killer.  [X]  Having said that...it isn't the voltage that kills...it's the current...the amperage that fries you.

All electricity is subject to a very simple math formula:  E=IxR.  Voltage is the “E”, current is the “I”, measured in amps, and the resistance of the object through which the current is flowing due to the voltage is (R), and measured in Ohms.  Finally, if we multiply the values of voltage and current together, we get the power generated as heat from the device[s], read in Watts.  You can plug in some numbers to see what happens if we change the values of voltage, current, and the resistance...but why take the time?

Voltage is defined as a difference in electrical potential between to points...say your hand on the circuit, and your bare foot on the [wet?] floor.  The current or amps is the amount of electrons passing through an object, such as a wire, an electrical circuit, or say a person.  Now going back to our simple formula, if we have a house current operating at 120v, then the amount of current generated will be inversely proportional to the resistance of the object in the circuit…in this case, YOU!  In other words, if your resistance is low…the current is high.

Electrical current runs from the circuit to ground…or from ground to the circuit, depending on your schooling.  In either case, you have lots of energetic electrons flowing through your body.  Electrical current always seeks the path of least resistance.  If you touch the circuit with your hand, the current flows from your hand to ground via the path of least resistance…usually down through your body to earth through your feet.  If your other hand is grounded, then that may be the path of least resistance and the current may flow that way.  In either case, it will probably flow through one rather very important part of your anatomy…your heart!  Since your heart doesn’t like being zapped with lots of trons, it will probably react very badly…maybe even going into fibrillation or stopping…not good.

The human body presents a resistance (Remember those Ohms?) to electricity based on several factors.  How dry are you?  Are you wearing shoes?  Where are you touching the circuit and ground?  The amount of resistance to this 120v is going to determine whether or not you get killed when you get across the circuit.

As little as 100 milliamps of current (1/10 of an amp) can kill.  Since the voltage in this case is fixed, all we have to do to reach the potentially fatal dose of current is to reduce your resistance to the voltage down to 1200 Ohms.  Not too difficult, if you happen to be real sweaty (salt helps too) or if your standing in water.  Finally, the house current is alternating…or AC.  This current has a tendency to spasm your muscles and holds you on the circuit.  A large DC circuit like the TV tube high voltage will usually knock you silly…but off the circuit.

Bottom line: don’t mess with the Gods of Electricity.  You could become room temp...then your wife would get your insurance and you wouldn’t be able to shoot any more. [xx(]

From someone who messed with trons for 28 years…and survived.

74 Milliamps.
guess what a 9 volt batterie has against the average resistance of the human body (which i forget)? 75 milliamps. yep i can kill you with a pathetic little 9 volt batterie(send your heart into defib). now it takes wires and thumbtacks (or somthing to penetrate the skin). but it can be done.

btw
Electrocuted = DEAD
Shocked = alive

i got shocked as well years ago, made the circuit between both arms. i lived. interesting experience i never want to repeat. like you said, Weird (lose of control as your arms shake like mad) tingly for a bit afterward. thou watchout for the aftereffect of your arms jumpin radicaly for a bit afterwards. this was a prolonged hit, prolly 4 - 5 seconds. till my bro knocked me off it. i dunno if he kicked or simply rammed me off. dont really care as im alive. i still remember that damn feeling. you will never forget it and you will be a little more warey form now on. once thing ive wanted to do is rig up a 9 vlot with the thumbtacks and hide them somewhere someone sits. not only do get get the 2 points in the butt, but they get a little zap to go with it. and as it crosses the butt no vital organs are in danger. [;)]