Timeline for Which electrons kill you during electrocution?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
18 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 7, 2022 at 23:59 | history | edited | Qmechanic♦ |
edited tags
|
|
| Jul 7, 2022 at 23:58 | history | removed from network questions | Qmechanic♦ | ||
| Jul 7, 2022 at 18:09 | answer | added | Cris | timeline score: 3 | |
| Jul 7, 2022 at 18:00 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackPhysics/status/1545105390320353283 | ||
| Jul 7, 2022 at 17:12 | history | became hot network question | |||
| Jul 7, 2022 at 15:50 | comment | added | John Doty | There are very few free electrons in the human body. Solvated electrons in water have a very short life. Electric currents in the body are carried by ions. | |
| Jul 7, 2022 at 15:37 | comment | added | Marcus Junius Brutus |
@PhilipWood Thank you! Upon further research (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drift_velocity) I see that v2 is much higher than I previously thought and v3 much lower. I've updated my question to reflect that.
|
|
| Jul 7, 2022 at 15:35 | history | edited | Marcus Junius Brutus | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 12 characters in body
|
| Jul 7, 2022 at 15:32 | vote | accept | Marcus Junius Brutus | ||
| Jul 7, 2022 at 13:41 | comment | added | Philip Wood | (a) Your summary of the three velocities is, in may opinion, excellent. (b) $v_3$ is usually called the "drift velocity". (c) Unlike $v_2$, $v_3$ is relevant to electrocution because mass movement of electrons in one direction can lead to changes in charge distribution, on which the functioning of the nervous system depends. I hope that you'll get a much better answer than this rather hand-waving comment. | |
| Jul 7, 2022 at 10:47 | answer | added | gandalf61 | timeline score: 21 | |
| Jul 7, 2022 at 10:39 | comment | added | rob♦ | Air molecules have a “Brownian” motion with a typical speed comparable to the speed of sound, about 760 mph. A tropical storm has winds above 60 mph. Why does a tropical storm take the roof off of your house, but the random motion doesn’t? A similar question to yours. | |
| Jul 7, 2022 at 10:32 | comment | added | Roger V. | Relevant: physics.stackexchange.com/q/677906/247642, physics.stackexchange.com/a/538567/247642, biology.stackexchange.com/a/103259/59521 | |
| Jul 7, 2022 at 10:14 | history | edited | Qmechanic♦ | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 4 characters in body; edited tags; edited title
|
| Jul 7, 2022 at 10:13 | comment | added | Marcus Junius Brutus | @rob so you're saying that it is free electrons that are already inside my body that kill me. If so, why didn't they kill me before when they were moving around in their "Brownian" motion with speeds in the order of 1000 m/s but they kill me now when a tiny constituent velocity vector of mere cm/s (as a result of the electrical field) is added? | |
| Jul 7, 2022 at 9:30 | comment | added | rob♦ | If you suspect your body’s interior is not a conductor, you clearly missed the primary-school slumber party where everyone gets dared to touch both terminals of a 9V battery with their tongue. See this question and links therein for discussions about when and whether it makes sense to ask about “the electrons” carrying energy in an electrical circuit. | |
| S Jul 7, 2022 at 9:00 | review | First questions | |||
| Jul 7, 2022 at 9:06 | |||||
| S Jul 7, 2022 at 9:00 | history | asked | Marcus Junius Brutus | CC BY-SA 4.0 |