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Re: FAQ questions...
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>From tesla-at-poodle.pupman-dot-com Tue Jul 9 07:33:27 1996
Date: Tue, 09 Jul 1996 03:25:05 -0600
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Subject: FAQ questions...
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>From chip-at-poodle.pupman-dot-comMon Jul 8 22:54:39 1996
Date: Mon, 8 Jul 1996 22:54:17 -0600 (MDT)
From: Chip Atkinson <chip-at-poodle.pupman-dot-com>
To: Tesla List <tesla-at-poodle.pupman-dot-com>
Subject: FAQ questions...
Greetings,
I am starting to work on the safety FAQ, but naturally am having some
questions. (I'd like to be as accurate as possible)
1) Is it true that it takes 10 Joules of electricity to kill someone?
(If not, how much is it?)
2) Is a watt in AC roughly volts*amps? I believe that a watt is VA in
DC, and if you are dealing with RMS Volts and amps, does that make it
true for AC?
Thanks for your attention. More questions will follow I'm sure.
Chip
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I would say safety is going to be a very hard thing to
describe. Tesla himself passed very large currents through
his body without damage. I have personally lit a 60watt
incandecent bulb, screw base in hand and center contacting
a 30MHz source, with only heat ending the experiment. Let's
see, I held the bulb for 15 seconds, that's 60W*15s=900joules.
I've heard it said that a very small current (100uA) passing
through the heart can be fatal. Remember DC likes to take the
shortest path. From arm to capacitor terminal to arm to capacitor
terminal is probably the most dangerous situation in a TC system.
AC is less dangerous than DC. The first capital punishment
electrocution failed and had to be done a second time, talk about
cruel and unusual! I think a FAQ on safety is a very good idea.
It should present the facts and let everyone assume responsiblity
for their own actions. Let's keep the lawers/bureaucrats out of this.
On the technical side, a watt is 23.73 lb. ft^2/sec^3. If you placed
a 23.7lb weight on your chest ( say the weight from a bar bell ) for
1 second, you survive, if that weight is concentrated through say a
pencil...ouch!
I believe that for RMS values of volts and amps AC watts are V*A, of
coarse this assumes a pure resistive load V & A in phase.
Off my soap box.
Dave Huffman-at-fnal.gov