The typical household power supply in USA is 120 volts. Therefore getting shocked by such an electric voltage is possible while living in a house or office. You need to know how dangerous the 120 volt shock is. Can 120 volts kill you? This article explains the effects of 120 volts shock.
Can 120 volt shock kill you? How dangerous is it?
The electric voltage does not kill someone. Electric current is responsible for the strength of the shock. Now electric current depends on voltage and resistance. Therefore, the same voltage can give different currents to the conductors of different resistances.
The human body is also a conductor and its resistance can be anything between 300 ohms and 1000 ohms. To understand the strength of the shock of 120V supply, we need to calculate the current that passes through the human body when it touches such volts. Read the following section for this.
Is 120 volt a lot of Electricity?
It depends on the amount of resistance across which the voltage is connected. The resistance of the human body ranges from 300 ohms to 1000 ohms. Let’s calculate the electric current through the human body that is connected with 120 volts.
From Ohm’s law of electricity, the Electric current \small\color{Blue}I = \frac{V}{R}. Here, voltage, V = 120 volts and Resistance, R = 300 ohms to 1000 ohms.
Then we get, the possible electric current that passes through the human body by a 120V shock ranging from 0.40 amperes to 0.12 amperes.
How many amps can kill Someone?
Do you know what current can kill you? A minimum of 30 to 40 milliamps (which is 0.03 amps to 0.04 amps) can kill someone. That means 0.4 amps to 0.12 amps current from 120 volts shock can kill you. That much dangerous is the shock of 120 volts. A wet body draws a greater current.
What to do if I get shocked by 120V supply?
If you get shocked, you cannot do anything. You need to take help from others to disconnect you from the wire immediately and take you to the hospital. After disconnecting you from the supply voltage or wire if people touch you, you will get a bit of relief from the shock. Because the excess current will flow to the ground through the body of others. The best thing is to keep yourself away from the electric shock. Take all necessary precautions and care.
Thus the electric shock of 120 volt is very dangerous and can kill someone easily. 120V shock is that much bad. Protect yourself from such shock. This is all from this article. If you have any other questions regarding this you can ask me in the comment section.
Thank you!
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