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Nikola Tesla has a photo taken while holding a light bulb. Why doesn't electricity affect Nikola Tesla in this photo? I know that he uses a Tesla coil and that the current is too low, the voltage is too high. But there is a problem. I have an electroshock device. I increase the range of 3-6 volts hundreds of thousands of times and reach very high voltages. Of course, the current is quite low. It hurts as you can imagine. What was Tesla's difference?

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  • $\begingroup$ Can't make sense of your first sentence. Please cite the event you are referring to. $\endgroup$
    – Bob D
    Commented Dec 19, 2019 at 21:51
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    $\begingroup$ I believe the OP is referring to a gas filled bulb lighting up in proximity to a tesla coil (such as a mercury vapor fluorescent or perhaps neon tube), and why it doesn't affect the person holding it, though the question could be worded much better. $\endgroup$
    – R. Rankin
    Commented Dec 19, 2019 at 21:54
  • $\begingroup$ You say "this photo". Where is it? $\endgroup$
    – Bob D
    Commented Dec 19, 2019 at 22:03
  • $\begingroup$ I was about to answer your other post when you deleted it. For 60 Hz sinusoidal current in the body of 0.1 mA is at the perception level for most people, below the reaction level of 5 mA. Both thresholds increase with increasing frequency. $\endgroup$
    – Bob D
    Commented Dec 20, 2019 at 16:21

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Why doesn't electricity affect Nikola Tesla in this photo?

Without knowing the frequency (Hz) of the Tesla coil being used in the photo, the short answer is the frequency is too high for the given voltage to cause a startle reaction by Tesla. I have read that the frequency of a Tesla coil can range from 50 kHz to 1 MHz. The higher the frequency of current in the body, the greater the magnitude of current needed to cause a startle reaction. At the lower frequency of 50 kHz a current of 5 mA in the body is needed to produce a startle reaction (source: IEC 479-1).

So I would say that the frequency of the current in Tesla's body was too high to cause a reaction.

Hope this helops

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  • $\begingroup$ Hmm I guess you're right. The frequency of the current seems important for this question. I will better investigate the frequency of the current. Thanks for information. $\endgroup$
    – Python Coder
    Commented Dec 19, 2019 at 23:10
  • $\begingroup$ You are welcome. Please let us know what you find out $\endgroup$
    – Bob D
    Commented Dec 19, 2019 at 23:12

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