This is particularly applicable around downed power cables. Do NOT approach. You don’t need to touch it to become the wire.
For example: in LA right now
You have to keep in mind that the resistance from one foot to your other is going to be less than dry earth between your strides. This means if you are walking toward a downed power line, you may inadvertently walk within its path to its ground and the voltage could actually travel through you.
Why is this not knowledge taught in school?
It is the first time i hear about it and i have never thought of it, yet it makes total sense and could make the difference between life and death in a storm damaged area.
Well, we did learn exactly that in school and had a practical demonstration at a museum.
But on a different continent.
dO nOT toUch the DoWn wIres uuuum I have MY RIGHTS to turn myself into a gas station hotdogs thankyouverymuch
Low voltage: “Oh no, there is a tiny spot of corrosion on the contact surface, I think I need to lie down…”
High voltage: (rips line of coke) “I’M GONNA MAKE MY OWN WIRES WITH BLACKJACK AND HOOKERS!”
In fact, forget the blackjack!
Everything is wire if the voltage is high enough
Į̴̶̴̨̧̧͓̱̞̣͈͇̠͙̭̯̹̗̩̺͉̪ͪ͑̓ͪ͋̊̿̿ͥ͆̅ͨͩͦ͘͘͠͠ͅ A̧̝̻̮ͨ͗́̍̀̑͘͘͞͡M̠̣͈̮̱̼̥̗̳͚͙͎͚ͭ̅͌͆̄̍̿͐̓ͨͮ̎̅̚͜͟͝͠ B̸̲̞̗̭̹̯͓̠̝̯͈̊͌͒͜͡Ḛ̫̝̦̜̖͕̣̞͚̲̦̯̬̩̝̠̖͉͕͔̟ͨ̀̏ͭ̈ͨͩͨ̓̌̊̉̏ͦ͆̂͒ͨ̽͟͠C̴̷̵̨̗͈̺͓͖̳̭̬͚̹̠͕͇̝̠ͬͣ͋͂ͨͥͧͯ͛̏̏̊ͫ̓ͮͤ͘͢͡Ò̴̷̸͍̼͕̪̦͍͎͚͖͇͎͎̱̙̖͕̰̲͋̈́ͤ̔̄ͦ̌͑͒̇͟͝M̲͇̱̝̣̳̳̟̟̠͎̞͂̆́ͥͯ̾͠E̷̸̢̡̢͉̣͓̳͉̻̲̰͇͕͌̒̈́͌̍ͮ͌̋ͮ̄̉ͮͭͯͣ̏̐̕ Ẁ̩̥͇̬̼̻͙̦̬͙̂̓̍ͮ́̃̎̎ͪ́̃́̀̽ͧĮ̧͖̠͙͎̫ͧͯͥ̄̆ͧͦ̅̕͜͜͝R̴̶̢̧̨̛̘͖̜͔͙̼̼̂̇ͬͪͩ́ͯ̅ͯ̆̍̀ͥ͠͞͞E̶̝͙̯͔̹̦̽̌͊̈̐̅͌ͨ͆ͥͫ͆͛̓̕͜
I don’t know too much about HV, but I thought that even the crazy path shown in the picture was still the path of least resistance. Is that wrong?
It is still the path of least resistance but it created it itself. It ionizes the air creating a channel for it and then makes the leap, creating a conductive conduit of plasma/ions, as air currents move that around the path of least resistance can get progressively more nuts because there’s still a path through the ionized air.
Dielectric breakdown, literally carving its own path of least resistance through the air.
Everything is a wire if the voltage is high enough.
Every machine is a smoke machine if you use it wrong enough.
“it’s current not voltage that kills you”
High voltage: “Por que no los dos?”
I always thought that was a dumb saying because voltage is specifically what allows there to be a lethal current.
In static electric fields, sure. But the real world has rapidly changing electric fields, and mapping concepts like voltage or resistance to a time dimension starts to require imaginary numbers (and the complex analogue to resistance goes by a different name of impedance). And once you’re modeling electricity through those concepts, you can have high current in a particular moment in time where the voltage might not be high. Or where the implied voltage is very high but was actually more of an effect than a cause.
In other words, if you’re simply talking about “resistance,” you’re already in the wrong domain to be analyzing electrical safety properly.
