[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

Re: RF biological hazards? (fwd)





---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 06 May 1998 22:37:14 -0700
From: "Antonio C. M. de Queiroz" <acmq-at-compuland-dot-com.br>
To: Tesla List <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Subject: Re: RF biological hazards? (fwd)

Malcolm Watts wrote:

> Sometimes you feel nothing, other times.....  I can say from
> experience that a coil run with a high primary energy content is
> certain to give a few belts whether run repetitively or not. One
> cannot explain those observations by considering Fr in isolation.

Some considerations:
Considering that the resistance of the human body is relatively low,
with the exception of the surface of the skin, and that a spark discharge
breaks the skin insulation easily, in how many cycles all the coil
energy is exhausted in a spark to a human body? I would guess that
in very few, maybe less than one, and that what is felt is essentially a 
succession of DC discharges from the top terminal capacitance, at the 
primary break rate. These discharges are oscillatory at their own frequency,
that is independent of the coil operating frequency, and much higher.
What is felt probably depends mainly on the average current of these 
discharges, that can vary because the polarity of the terminal can 
alternate at successive breaks.
The power received by the "shocked" can be quite low, because most of
the power would be dissipated in the spark connecting the person to
the terminal.

Antonio Carlos M. de Queiroz
http://www.coe.ufrj.br/~acmq