How many volts does it take to get electrocuted?

Answer 1

Surprise! There is data available on this one. 1019 deaths occurred in the construction field between the years 1992 and 1998. Most were due to unexpected contact with electrical current because lock out / tag out procedures were not implemented.

Believe it or not, it is pretty hard for a healthy person to die from household currents. The levels are somewhat painful, but death is not the normal outcome with even basic precautions.




House hold current in the is 20 amps. It takes a minimum of 0.2 amps to Kill the avrage person. Also, electricity travles at nerly the speed of light and a cirrcuit breaker can not trip that fast. There is a good chance that you will get electrocuted from the amprage off of the 1200volt transformer that feeds your house.

Each year about 3,000 people are treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries associated with electricity. Almost 10,000 fires result from damaged or overloaded cords and plugs each year.

Answer 2

any - you can get electrocuted and not feel it

Short answer:

You can feel a shock from a 9v battery on your tongue but it won't kill you

It's probably possible to be killed by only 35 volts if you have conductive gel on both your hands and grab two poles tightly. (one at 0 volts, one at 35 volts)

Long answer:

You can FEEL about 1milli-amp (one thousandth of an amp)

Amperage is a measure of how many electrons are flowing through you.

How much voltage it takes to make those electrons flow through you is very complicated. It depends on everything from how well you make contact with the power source to how old you are to what you ate yesterday and hundreds of other factors.

If you make good contact, are young (because older people tend to have significantly less water per body mass), and drank lots of beer that day (because it's salty and hydrates you) then it doesn't take as much voltage.

Answer 3

According to the Electrical Safety Foundation, around 30,000 people suffer non-fatal shocks. Each year, electrocutions, or fatal electrical shocks, claim about 60 lives.

Answer 4

In the United States there are about one thousand deaths each year because of electric shock. In the United Kingdom, it is about 70 a year.

Answer 5

Very few.