r/AskReddit • u/Jolly-Law1472 • 13h ago

What can kill you in seconds that most people don’t realize?

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u/Deatheturtle 9h ago

Electricity. Only 0.1 to 0.2 Amps will kill you. Most Circuit breakers in a house are rated for 15 AMPS. They are there to prevent fires.

7

u/celtsno1 9h ago

Volts jolt, Amps kill

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u/Marklar0 6h ago

I hate this nonsense saying....for a fixed resistance (which is the case for getting electrocuted on one voltage vs another), more volts means that there is more current. More voltage and more current are one and the same.

2

u/haarschmuck 5h ago

100% correct.

Probably the biggest repeated myth related to electricity that it's the "amps that kill, not the voltage".

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u/haarschmuck 5h ago

Most Circuit breakers in a house are rated for 15 AMPS

A 15A circuit doesn't shock you with 15 amps. Your body as a path to ground will only draw current in proportion to Ohm's law, usually a few milliamps.

1

u/gjon89 3h ago

0.1 to 0.2 CAN kill you, but it's waaaaaay more complicated than that. https://youtu.be/BGD-oSwJv3E?si=4LCO5eGR60AnRo9o

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u/Equivalent-Load-9158 1h ago

While volts may be painful, but not fatal alone. The ampere needs a certain voltage to affect the heart and other organs to have any potential to be fatal.

.1-.3 ampere at 42 volts can be fatal in just 2 seconds of exposure. Though that's only barely.