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what is the difference between a person shocked at 220 volts and 400 volts, with the same amperage?

I know AC would be more lethal than DC but I'm confused as to why some people say amps kill you and then other people say both amps and volts... so it makes sense that it's the watts that kill you. The number of electrons that pass (may it be faster speed from higher voltage or higher number of electrons per given area, from amps...)

But then I think hold on... power lines have high voltage but low amps so that they use thinner copper cables. It doesn't make sense. If higher voltage is lethal, then doesn't that mean it should heat up a cable more if the voltage is higher? So then we'd need a thicker cable for power lines?...

11 Answers

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  • 3 years ago

    400 Volts will throw you across the room

    Source(s): Personal experience
  • 3 years ago

    Presuming that the two bodies have the same resistance, then the one shocked by 440 volts would conduct over two times the current more than the one shocked by 200 volts. As you say, it's the current that kills, but it's the voltage that drives the current.

  • 3 years ago

    This is a naive or TROLL question. If the same person got a similar shock from 220 and 400 volts, the amps would NOT be the same. Many people who die from a mains electric shock actually die from heart failure, which can result from a current as low as 1 milliamp. Human skin resistance is typically hundreds of thousands of ohms, so a brief mains shock is seldom fatal.

    It doesn't make sense to separate voltage and current because you can't have an electric shock where one of them is not present, they come together.

    Fuses and breakers are very important, because otherwise an overload will make wires very hot, and this can cause severe burns even if you don't get an electric shock.

  • 3 years ago

    The person shocked with 400 volts will be almost twice as dead as the one shocked with 220v

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  • 3 years ago

    If the Amperage is the same from both Voltage sources then 180V of the 400V source must be dropped across a resistance in the circuit that is not part of the person's body. Therefore there would be no difference in the two shocks.

  • 3 years ago

    Having been hit by 120V 220V, 480V AC, and multiple different lower volts DC (under 48V), DC voltage you are more likely to lock onto the current source, where as higher voltages have a tendency to literally blow the person away from the current source, was hit by a conduit with a bad ground wire in it at 480 Volts AC, blew me about 4ft away and knocked me out, instantaneous shock, hurts like hell... all depends on the path it takes, however to answer your question, 400 volt shock will generally cause more severe arc burns and tissue damage than 220, both just as likely to stop the heart, but all depends on the circumstances

  • 3 years ago

    w=v^2/r

    r being constant,

    w depends on v^2

    at 400v a person dies 400^2/220^2 times

    faster than at 220v

  • 3 years ago

    Voltage is pressure, current is flow. Resistance is, well, resistance to flow. This resistance is overcome by more pressure.

    So if you have something with a resistance of 1000 ohms, and a voltage source of 100 volts, then you can force 0.1 amps through the loop. If your 'load' is 100,000 ohms, then it would take 10,000 volts to force the same current through.

    Lets take 0.01 amps as a lethal flow. Then if your body has a resistance of 25,000 ohms (dry skin) it would take 250 volts to force a lethal current through your body. If your body had a resistance of 5000 ohms (just out of the shower) it would take only 50 volts to force that lethal current through.

    It is the current that kills, but the amount of current that flows is dependent on the voltage and load resistance. (amount of current *available* from the source is immaterial).

    Ohms law:

    Current = voltage/resistance

  • 3 years ago

    NO DIFFERENCE, DEAD TO THE PERSON IN MINUTES.

  • qrk
    Lv 7
    3 years ago

    Same amount of current means they feel the same jolt. Higher voltages can cause burns due to the arc.

    DC is more dangerous than AC. Causes the muscles to contract and hold and can cause burns if the voltage is high enough to support an arc.

    Current kills. You need enough voltage to deal with the resistance of the skin. Ohm's Law tells us this. Wet skin has much less resistance than dry skin. Touching a 40V source with dry skin doesn't register a sensation. If your skin is wet, very different story.

    You need to take up a basic electronics course. This will clear up your misconceptions.

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