Electricity Hazards

One of the most easily remembered Public Information Films of the early 1970's. then again, this is what happens if you're too damn cheap to stick a plug on your power tools.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Electric
• shock
• idiot

[greenphantom]

Damn... who would have thought sticking matches and loose wires into a socket would be unsafe??

[vivienne1971]

he definitely qualifies for an entry in the darwin awards

[MrCharcharchar]

anything for a sick line whit

[sonic80474]

what stupied thing to do use a plug fix the probly its common sence in the end

[BankaiIchigo12345]

@126anonymous

However the frequency of AC is only 50Hz and the capacitance associated with with 1/4 to 1/2 inc of rubber in your sole of your shoe will use your foot and the ground as plates on the capacitor, when all this is taken into account, the capacitance will be only a few pico farads, and the resulting AC impeadence will be VERY high (on the order of mega ohms). The current would not be large enough shock you.

[BankaiIchigo12345]

@126anonymous

Actually rubber shoe soles are like 1/4 to 1/2 inches thick. The breakdown voltage for rubber is like 100,000 volts per centimeter. 240 volts is tiny in comparison.

What you are describing is capacitive reactance (you'd have less current flow if you were standing on a plastic stool than just on your shoes, though both materials are perfect insulators, due to distance-between-contacts changing also changing capacitance).

[BankaiIchigo12345]

@126anonymous

Actually so long as both hands are on the same piece of metal, and so long as no other part of the body is in contact with ground (or any other metal who's voltage difference with the piece of metal in question exceeds about 30 volts), then current will not flow between the hands nor from either hand to any other part of the body, and so no shock will happen. Remember, current needs a complete path to flow. You'll learn that if you take any electronics class.

[magicgeezer]

Obviously these weren't safety matches! fool...

[JordanEmonds]

I guarantee after this, he was the spitting image of Brian May. 

[ssqad5]

i didn't know electricity made people bad actors

[BankaiIchigo12345]

Matches are made of wood, a good insulator at 120 or 240 volts. Even if he had use paperclips instead, to make it conduct, he had BOTH hands on the SAME piece of metal (the equipment chassis) as shown in this video. so his whole body would be at the same 120 or 240 volts. To make a current flow you need a DIFFERENCE in voltage between 2 points on the body. This video was supposed to be about safety, but you can't teach safety well unless you understand the science. This video FAILED on science.

[JoanCollins2009]

poor sod wonder if he made it ok x