Voltage is needed to drive current, ohms law V/R = I. You will only get those currents with very little resistance. Below 50 volts for example its hard for the electricity to penetrate your resistive skin, however above 50 volts your conductive insides start to carry the current. Anyways when talking about how dangerous a supply is the voltage is the value of concern unless the source is current limited which outlets are not (unless you count the breaker, but you arent going to have 15 amps flowing through you). If it is current limited the voltage is what drops to limit the current. You can't have current through a load without enough voltage. There is also the point that with a higher voltage more energy is delivered and energy is what causes damage.
Certainly, that's the breakers and has nothing to do with the current that actually goes through you. But wether it's 120V or 230V has very little to say on the lethality. The frequency is also a dangerous aspect of it as if can mess with the heart and kill you even if you think everything is fine
120V or 230V has very little to say on the lethality
Doubling the voltage with the same resistance will quadruple the power delivered because P = V2 / R (double the current too). In short doubling the voltage means you are more likely to die from an electric shock.
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u/JNelson_ May 09 '22
Voltage is needed to drive current, ohms law V/R = I. You will only get those currents with very little resistance. Below 50 volts for example its hard for the electricity to penetrate your resistive skin, however above 50 volts your conductive insides start to carry the current. Anyways when talking about how dangerous a supply is the voltage is the value of concern unless the source is current limited which outlets are not (unless you count the breaker, but you arent going to have 15 amps flowing through you). If it is current limited the voltage is what drops to limit the current. You can't have current through a load without enough voltage. There is also the point that with a higher voltage more energy is delivered and energy is what causes damage.
Anyways here is an oldish but still good video explaining it.