[clug] linux Digest, Vol 92, Issue 62

[Jason Stokes]

I'm not sure where Keith's 110 volts is coming from (perhaps 
an ADSL carrier signal?) but the ring voltage on an ordinary telephone line 
(ie, the voltage when the phone is ringing) is an AC signal
that varies between 40 and 150 Volts RMS (in old-style telephones,
it physically drives the telephone's ringer.)

Get even the lower bound across your heart and you have a heart attack. AC is 
particularly good for inducing fibrillation.

So yes, even in normal operation you can get voltages across a telephone line 
circuit that can kill you.

That about exhausts my knowledge of telcomm circuits, I'm afraid.

 
----- Original Message ----
From: Sam Couter <sam at couter.id.au>
To: linux at lists.samba.org
Sent: Thu, 2 September, 2010 6:18:22 PM
Subject: Re: [clug] linux Digest, Vol 92, Issue 62

Andrew Boyd <facibus at gmail.com> wrote:
> Shocking!

Ha.

> Puns aside, is this acceptable? I know it's the amperage that kills, not the 
>voltage, etc, but this sounds like something that might be dangerous. 
>

People like to say "it's the current that kills, not the voltage" but
that shows a lack of understanding of electric currents. Current =
Voltage / Resistance, where Resistance is you. No voltage, no current,
high voltage, high current. Except it's a bit more complicated than
that, such as in the case of static electricity or power supplies with
high internal resistance. Also, your value as R changes based mostly on
moisture levels on the skin and where on your body you're measuring.

The short answer is yes, 110V is quite dangerous and can easily be lethal.
-- 
Sam Couter        |  mailto:sam at couter.id.au
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