What To Do After Electric Shock?

[YooChangHyun]

30 minutes ago I was shocked twice by a 330v 140uf capacitor from a digital camera, I've tried to find out what I need to do, if anything, but I just don't know.

I hope this is in the correct category as I assume this is Physics?

Does anyone know if I'm in danger?

Thanks.

[Old_Geezer]

What I tend to do after an electric shock is to yell, "Ow", and swear a lot. If it is a bad shock I may sit down for a while to relieve the stress or whatever..

[pdq1]

I wonder if the US system is safer by using half the voltage of UK. I know its not the volts that kill you but if V=IxR then it follows that I-V/R

[ChuckFickens]

R is constant (say 50Kohms, about the "average" resistance of a human)
V is 110v
I=0.0022A

R is 50Kohms
V is 240v
I=0.0048A

For a constant resistance the amps will increase with the voltage increasing, so yes, 110V is safer (hence why building site equipment operates on 110V in this country)

[BRIGHT SPARK]

The unit of current is the ampere...the unit of voltage or pd is the volt these units on there own are harmless until you introduce the final unit...time. If you multiply volts by amps by time you get the S.I. unit of energy ...the joule and this is what does the damage.

[Teddio]

You're correct, BRIGHT SPARK, that I x V X t = Energy but the power is more important, i.e. Energy divided by time. In the case of an electronic photographic flash the capacitor is designed to supply a massive current through a xenon-filled tube for a very short period of time (perhaps 50 microseconds)

[BRIGHT SPARK]

Yes Ted...all the components are important but its the resultant energy dissipation that counts.
Ive had several 415v shocks for a few milliseconds duration but wouldnt fancy 60v for a minute.

[modeller]

Your use of I=V/R is a far too simplistic approach, to start with if you are dealing with AC as in the case of mains voltage then it is the impedance of the circuit not just the resistance. Also AC behaves differently when passing through a body.
The second point is the capability of the source to supply the current indicated by I=V/R e.g. A 1.5volt battery short circuited by a piece of copper wire with say a resistance of 0.01 ohms or less would require the battery to supply 150 amps or more, clearly impossible.
The same thing applies to a capacitor, whatever its discharge voltage the current available is limited by the Farad capacity in this post a mere 140uf hardly enough to give a tiny spark.

[jomifl]

pdq, the US system is safer since it will only shock you with a quarter of the power. The practical drawback of 110v is that wire have to have twice the cross sectional area to deliver the same power.

[YooChangHyun]

Thank you for all your answers.

I was suggested by a nurse that I go to get my heart checked out, they wanted to send an ambulance round and take me to hospital but I said no. I thought it was a bit overkill.

I'm wondering if my Propranolol would have had any effect if the shock was enough to do some damage?

Anyway, I'm still here.

[chakka35]

modeller, the reason that the birds are happy is that there is no through circuit. If they had, say, one wing touching the earthed tower they would frazzle in seconds. There is plenty of current available.

In the old days of trams in Liverpool there was the joke about the nervous old lady who asked the conductor whether it was dangerous to put her foot on the rail embedded in the street. "Only if you put your other foot on the overhead cable" came the reply.