Re: Skin effect question

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <Mddeming-at-aol-dot-com>

In a message dated 6/26/01 11:45:42 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
tesla-at-pupman-dot-com writes: 


>
> Hi all 
>
> Bit of a dumb question... but here I go... 
>
> TCs operate at high frequencies... so the electrical impulses are not able 
> to be felt by nervous system. The current output of corona is not high 
> enough to cause your heart to do... wierd stuff. Theoretically could you 
> take arcs from a TC to a metal object in your hand, as long as you weren't 
> grounded... yes? I say this because obviously a power arc (complete topload 
> capacitor discharge) will kill you... but will the pansy liitle air 
> streamers do the same thing? My theory would lead me to believe not.. but I 
> dont really wanna try it out :) 
>
> Jason 


Jason, 
"skin effect" applies to all the conductors in you body, not just your skin. 
True, you will not feel the rf as it travels over the surface of your nerves 
and blood vessels. It WILL very likely do damage to those nerves and blood 
vessels, you just won't FEEL it. While some effects can be immediate, it may 
take years for all the damage to show up as numbness, loss of motor control, 
memory failure, aneurysm, etc., and you can always blame it on something 
else. Tesla wrote in 1896 that X-rays which did not immediately redden the 
skin had no long term effects. Mme. Curie believed that minuscule amounts of 
radium, such as were used on watch faces, were essentially harmless. And so 
it goes. 

Matt D. 

"Evolution stops when stupidity is no longer fatal."  C. Boden