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Why is it dangerous to touch both ends of a 3000 Farad Capacitor?
Im an undergrad Electrical Engineering student and we got into a discussion about a fully charged 3000Farad capacitor, and its rated for 2.7 Volts, but its instantaneous discharge for current is 1100 amps. one friend took the point of if he touched both ends he wouldnt die, or experience any pain from the two nodes of the capacitor. The other took the stance that there is a larger than 40% chance that it will either kill or hurt him. which friend is right?
the capacitor in question was pulled for having problems, ideally the output was 2.7 volts on a high valued resistor. being that the human body has varying resistances depending on situations such as sweat or an open wound at the time. is there still some danger shorting out the capacitor with your body.
also lets say it was damaged in such a way that it discharges instantly after being charged up fully. would that resulting current be enought to kill or atleast harm the unlucky person touching it?
The fact i was trying to argue is that there is a small possibility that the capacitor will see a low resistance path to ground and discharge rather quickly. 500mA is enough to kill someone, 50mA could cause nerve damage that could cause the death of someone as well. so I am well aware current kills, voltage stings.
5 Answers
- billrussell42Lv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
2.7 volts is not enough to harm you, you won't even feel it.
Discharge current has nothing to do with it, unless you connect something metal between the ends and it gets very hot.
"larger than 40% chance" I'd distrust that on general principles, how could he possibly have gotten that number.
edit: yes, I know that current is what kills or causes damage, but ohms law applies. You take the voltage and divide by the body resistance. And at 2.7 volts, the resistance is high enough that the current will not come even close to the 5 ma point, which is considered the lower threshold of shock.
Usual number that is considered dangerous:
SHOCK HAZARD: As defined in American National Standard, C39.5, Safety Requirements for Electrical & Electronic Measuring & Controlling Instrumentation: A shock hazard shall be considered to exist at any part involving a potential in excess of 30 volts RMS (sine wave) or 42.4 volts DC or peak and where a leakage current from that part to ground exceeds 0.5 milliampere, when measured with an appropriate measuring instrument defined in Section 11.6.1 of ANSI C39.5.
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- Anonymous6 years ago
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RE:
Why is it dangerous to touch both ends of a 3000 Farad Capacitor?
Im an undergrad Electrical Engineering student and we got into a discussion about a fully charged 3000Farad capacitor, and its rated for 2.7 Volts, but its instantaneous discharge for current is 1100 amps. one friend took the point of if he touched both ends he wouldnt die, or experience any pain...
Source(s): dangerous touch ends 3000 farad capacitor: https://biturl.im/milHB - 異域秦後人Lv 71 decade ago
2.7 volts shall not able to kill any human being. It is absolutely safe to touch the 3000 F capacitor which has been charged with 2.7 volts with bare hands. Human skin has about 10000 ohms resistance. 2.7 volts shall not able to pass through skin.
The only danger is DO NOT SHORT THE TERMINALS with any metal tool to that 2.7 volts 3000F charged capacitor. Otherwise,any metal shall be melt down instantly on contact and hot metal liquid flies away like an anti-tank armor shell.
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- Stan the RockerLv 51 decade ago
It is not the volts but the amps that you need to be concerned about. The amount of amps not conducive to living is in the order of milli-amps.
When I was in junior high electronics, I made the mistake of touching both terminals of a capacitor. Let us just say that my entire right arm went numb for a while.
