Does Moving Fast Prevent Electric Shock?

[@ElectroBOOM]

Nice to see you get shocked instead of me! 😁

[@KabeeshS]

You should have collaborated on this

[@BennydoesstuffYT]

The legend himself is here

[@HandledToaster2]

Hey ElectroBOOM guy, when you gonna BOOM me 🔌⚡😫 🥵⚡

[@antagonizt2708]

Thalaivaa 🔥

[@LukiK856]

I knew that ElecroBOOM will watch this one

[@frantisekvrana3902]

0:15 My guess is that it does not stop you from getting shocked, but the momentum prevents you from getting stunlocked. A danger with getting shocked is that the electricity might overpower your neural impulses and prevent you from moving your hand away. But if it is already moved away due to it's momentum, this is not an issue.

[@coledavidson5630]

Yup, that's why I always do it even though I know for a fact the power is disconnected lol

[@carboneagle]

This is exactly what I was taught by an electrical technician.

[@user-pp4lx3bt1o]

Same reason you always test the livestock fence with the back of your hand. Don’t want to clamp down on that wire.

[@y00t00b3r]

exactly. skipping this pointless video

[@FerdinandFake]

That's what the quick swipe is for, to guarantee you don't get hooked to it, like if you tried to pinch it

[@Felipe_9999]

This feels like something ElectroBOOM would do

[@Bostonrain420]

He did just do a video on the skin effect.

[@smartspy007]

Hahahh exactly 😂😂😂

[@LightSpeedFury01YT]

I just watched a video of him

[@youdontknowme5969]

higher frequencies = "IT JUST BURNS!" 😃 LOL

[@balintgalambos691]

​@@Bostonrain420 Which if you watched it, has nothing to do with human skin, only works in low resistance wires, not huge resistant human body

[@robincross4625]

I'm a retired broadcast engineer. For over 40 years I have worked around high voltage, mostly DC. When using your fingers to test for HV, you MUST use your knuckles. If you use the tips of your fingers, the muscles will flex as if to grab the wire. If using your knuckles, your muscles will flex and pull away from the wire. ALWAYS!! keep the other hand behind you!! This is only after removing all jewelry. I am still heart-beating and alive enough to type this. The reason for keeping your other hand behind you. It is to ensure that there is NO PATH that goes through your heart. I hope that there were some EMTs/Paramedics attending during these experiments.

[@redfields5070]

Did you have EMTs/Paramedics attending you at work? He never had a high enough current to hurt him. Getting shocked is not necessarily getting electrocuted. I talked to a guy once who thought you had to call the fire department before you lit a match.

[@nathansmith3608]

Whoa, that's really interesting. So you used to test high voltage conductors with your hand at work to see if they were energized? What kind of voltage & current are we talking about here? I've always heard similar advice about using the back of hand/knuckles & keeping the other hand away - it makes a lot of sense, but I didn't think it would be enough for high voltage (unless the current's extremely limited), so now I'm curious

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

The bit about the other hand is one worth repeating. The only time that I've ever been at serious danger from electricity, it was putting in a replacement bulb in a light that I thought was off. Fortunately, it was a lower power appliance lightbulb, but I had my other hand on a metal coffeemaker and that could very easily have ended badly, what with the path between the hands having the heart in the middle.

[@rajthiyagu11]

But didn't he say that he had limited the current? Also how do you limit current??

[@allthe1]

What the hell, people, don't you know about multimeters? What's wrong with you?

[@jainysail2941]

0:28 i like how Actionlab is becoming like ElectroBoom 😭

[@azkubaisi]

exept ElectroBoom is making real educated experiments. There is no reason to test this with DC currentor tesla coils - its not aplicable to real life. It should be done with AC generator and maybe a little lower current

[@aayanscreativelab1786]

@@azkubaisiit should be done with lightning

[@busybillyb33]

ActionBOOM

[@TheTubejunky]

ElectrooBoom KNOWS safety! This guy should not be sending current through his whole body... Should only be a small portion linke a finger or hand... The fact he put the conductors on the floor and table means it has a large path to go through including the heart!

[@aayanscreativelab1786]

@@TheTubejunky “electroboom knows safety” my brother did you watch the tiktok metal detector tutorial reaction or any other of his videos his entire channel of him being very unsafe

[@Ittiz]

in order to reduce the danger you should have just put a grounding strap on your arm. That way the electricity would exit without going through you whole body.

[@takanara7]

As long as the amperage is low enough it won't ultimately hurt you. If you know the math and do it properly you should be fine. If you don't, then you definitely shouldn't try it! (but yes in theory grounding your arm will prevent the current from going through your heart which is what causes the biggest problems)

[@brokkrep]

​@@takanara7it worked in Avatar the last airbender

[@brokkrep]

You just gotta use Iro's technique

[@DemolitionManDemolishes]

Sometimes I think YTbers do this on purpose to drive engagement.

[@HaukeLaging]

If you have electical equipment available, why not just use that for testing? 🤔

[@noahgreer1497]

I don't think moving fast will prevent you from getting shocked, but the momentum will move your hand away so you're not getting shocked for longer.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

Yes, what it does is reduce the time that you're in contact with the wire. As long as your momentum is carrying the hand past the wire and you're touching knuckled side to the wire, it's going to be somewhat helpful. But, you do have to be mindful that there isn't anything to trap the hand while touching the wire.

[@thehemmo5078]

if you are able to stop your hand from moving instantly it can happen also when touching live wire causing the shock just to continue.

[@w1z894]

hypothesis at 0:45 sec.... I always imagined "going faster" when touching something electrified is accepting plan A is gonna suck and plan B is to eat the shock but let momentum of your arm/finger/whatever break the circuit in the case you're otherwise incapacitated. Let's goooooooooo Action Lab!

[@w1z894]

by 2:30 i'm wondering if the duration of contact has anything to do with the relationship with your own bodies conductance :o

[@anonymes2884]

Perfectly reasonable guess (no offence but I might even call it "pretty obvious" :) but it turned out to be wrong. So good video right ? Told us something new (to me anyway) and "overturned" the obvious conclusion (a really key concept for me was, even if you don't _feel it_ electricity can still burn you - reason to be even more cautious around potentially live wires).

[@kilerek3]

​@@w1z894 nah. more momentum = less direct contact in time = less pain. ofc it is very minor difference but it is. for example. if there is some hipothetic wire that can kill you when touched, no matter how fast u touch it, it will kill you. because you cant be less killed. kill is kill ;d

[@w1z894]

@@kilerek3 i accidentally disliked this and thought to myself... wait i like this lmao. also ye, fun part of scientific method that most people do in their head i just did in chat to see how much interaction it would illicit :O but ya, we all only have a limited HP pool that suuuuuuuper slowly regenerates haha, ded is ded indeed

[@thenerv37]

That is the way an old time electrician explained it to me 30 years ago. He was working with 480 mostly

[@sonic2000gr]

Basic electrical safety: Electricity causes your muscles to contract. If you 'need' to test a possibly live wire by hand, approach your hand, arm and finger in such a way that when the muscles contract it will make it move away from the wire, thus breaking the connection. On another note: the video is too painful to watch :D

[@friedrichjunzt]

that sounds like a good advice, smart thinking, thanks

[@TheBoip]

or just do a Jurassic Park and throw a wood board at it

[@labiadh_chokri]

Don't test live wire by hands there's a lot of tools to do this .

[@matthewtymaja3760]

100% this (I just posted the same). The thought of your hand clamping onto the electrified object resulting in death over the ensuing seconds / minutes is horrible. I am always careful, especially when fixing (my own) hybrid car batteries which can be 300+ volts DC 😳

[@spundley]

Flicking the wire/terminal with the back of my hand is the final check before I work on any electrics (after the fusebox/multimeter etc)

[@rodneywilson9192]

I like the video but you really should have attached the other end to your upper arm at the farthest from your finger. That would limit the risk of current across your heart.

[@just_some_commenter]

Yeah, IMO he placed way too much trust in his current limiting circuit. There was no redundancy in this setup. Dipping a finger in salt water to intentionally defeat skin resistance, and then passing the current through the torso, is an incredibly dangerous move. Even a "low" 40 volts is enough to deliver a lethal shock if the current limiter didn't work as expected or was set to the wrong value.

[@anonymes2884]

He uses his right hand and right foot, which minimises the risk of current across his heart (but yep, completing the circuit with, for instance, his _other_ hand or foot would be a _much_ riskier option in that regard). (i'm sure he's also taken numerous other precautions but of course this kind of thing is _never_ risk free)

[@winklethrall2636]

You should use the back of your hand so that if you do get shocked, your reflexes pull your hand away.

[@zebo-the-fat]

I was just about to post the same comment!

[@AmitSingh-vt6ws]

Huh, makes sense.

[@JdeBP]

I was taught that as a child. I have, however, gone the whole of my life instead with the rule that I have perfectly good equipment for testing for voltages and currents, and will not be using _any_ bodypart to test for such things. I prefer my rule over the one that I was taught. (-:

[@zebo-the-fat]

@@JdeBP Same!

[@d4slaimless]

Reflexes would pull your hand away anyway (or rather you would pull away). However electric shock causes muscles to contract, so you can't let go of the wire if you grab it. So when you use the back of the hand, not only you pull away, but also muscle contraction makes it go away.

[@GalgoczkiAdam]

The Wimshurst machine experiment doesn't really mean anything in this scenario because the high voltage is stored in a capacitor which immediately discharges so all the shocks' duration will be the same, no matter how fast You are. Of course if there would be a generator which could maintain that voltage while You touch it, You were dead.

[@a64738]

Yes, exactly...

[@FarmandSMC]

2:10 “low voltage. it still hurts.” Checks video length to find out there is still ~ 8 mins left. Dude!

[@edwardlulofs444]

I only made it to 2:09

[@Noble4Truths]

1:15 "...make sure my hand is wet. That is always good around electricity." 😅😅😅😅😅😅

[@busybillyb33]

Is the penis more sensitive to electricity than the hand? I need answers!

[@TheTubejunky]

@@busybillyb33 More nerves = more pain THINK ABOUT IT!

[@RhuanPacheco]

@@busybillyb33 What do you want to do with the answer? 😏

[@thekuba9352]

​@@busybillyb33curiosity killed the cat. You made me curious billy. I'm curious billy. I may have to try it billy.

[@Yusso]

@@busybillyb33 billy wants to shock his willy

[@early2000skid]

Action Lab: Always be safe around wires to avoid long-term damage to tissue below the skin. Also Action Lab: Poke the lightning.

[@omegaassassin9854]

Dude he already explained what's going on in that part of experiment and clearly enough that Tesla coil is so minuscule

[@TheTubejunky]

@@omegaassassin9854 Wrong studies have concluded EACH electric shock given to a human body are creating damage. Electric shocks may have both serious immediate consequences, such as burns or cardiac arrest caused by the current, and serious secondary physical injuries, for example, those caused by falling or being thrown back by the shock. These serious, immediate consequences may be the most notable and well-known, but electric shocks may also have both immediate and delayed neurological consequences [1, 2]. This is the focus of this paper, which examines the risk of developing conditions and symptoms of the central (CNS) or peripheral nervous system (PNS) in the years following an electrical injury. Previous research has yielded mixed evidence of a link between electric shocks and diseases and symptoms of the CNS. For instance, a review of the literature based primarily on case studies and patient groups from burn units reported an association of electric shocks and an increased risk of epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), first manifesting a significant time after the electric shock [2]. However, a case-control study that used a combination of Job Exposure Matrices and retrospective, self-reported exposure did not confirm any increased risk of Parkinson’s disease [3]. Furthermore, a Danish register-based study that followed all persons who reported an electrical injury to the Danish Safety Technology Authority between 1968 and 2008 found no increased risk of ALS, Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease during follow-up, whereas an increased risk was found of migraine, vertigo, and epilepsy, based on Standardised Hospitalisation rates [4]. Several other symptoms related to the CNS, such as headache, general fatigue and tremor, have been reported following electric shocks [1, 5-11]. Research has also indicated a link between electric shocks and conditions and symptoms of the PNS, although the aetiology behind this possible association is debated [2, 6]. The manifestations may be chronic PNS symptoms following the shock, such as neuropathic pain, loss of sensation, paraesthesia and muscle weakness [8, 12]. A Danish cohort study found an increased risk of peripheral nervous disease following electric shock, compared to the incidence in the general population [4], and in a Canadian multi-centre study of previously hospitalised electrical injury patients, 9% reported muscle weakness, 6% extremity tingling and 9% numbness of the limbs at the one-year follow-up [10]. Furthermore, a retrospective study of 311 electrical workers suffering from electrical injuries found that 20 persons reported neurological sequelae, of which peripheral nervous disturbance comprised 90% [13]. Studies from burn units report a larger proportion of peripheral neuropathy following electrical burns, compared to non-electrical burns, and that high voltage injuries accounted for most of them [14, 15]. Several papers divide these injuries into low- and high-voltage injuries, as a measure of severity. However, this is probably too simplistic, as many other factors, such as duration, type of current, resistance of the tissue in the current’s path and the humidity of surroundings are crucial for the consequences of the shock [1, 6]. Generally, the literature on the neurological consequences of electric shocks is limited by retrospective designs, case studies and studies of selected patient groups, which are prone to recall and/or selection bias. Furthermore, there is a lack of comparison groups, so casuistic and descriptive cohort studies dominate the field, which is also reflected in reviews [1, 2].

[@early2000skid]

@@omegaassassin9854 yeah you're right, like he says it's a small coil so it's relatively safe. It's just a funny visual escalation to see him go from slapping wires to whipping out the zap generator. Wasn't looking to rag on him, or the science behind the skin effect, or dissuade anyone from poking at a (small) live tesla coil if they really want to.

[@omegaassassin9854]

@@early2000skid yeah it's funny because he made himself as guinea pig to test that dangerous thin, or was it?

[@dazofthemoo1531]

How cool is this guy. This channel. I've always wondered this. It's true, the quick touch is the goto to determine if its live. Thankyou man. Your brilliant. Absolutely love this channel.

[@asksearchknock]

2:57 I love how he was about to touch the wire to straighten it out but his brain kicked in at the last second 😂😊

[@Morbazan125]

I think the moving fast thing is more to prevent clamping onto the wire than not getting shocked.

[@TheAlchaemist]

Yeah and he is wrong too, it has to be with the BACK of the finger/hand, not the front/palm, so the contraction of the muscles breaks the contact instead of affirming the grabbing.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

@@TheAlchaemist It's worth noting though that you don't always get that severity of contraction. But, in no scenario is touching with the palm of the hand safer than touching with the back.

[@Benis650]

In fact, this experiment is extremely dangerous. Regardless of the voltage, even a very weak current passing through your heart is enough to cause cardiac arrest. As an engineer, I recommend using a multimeter to check if the wires are live, rather than gripping them with your hand.

[@Call_Me_David]

Years ago, I was messing with a spent disposable camera that I had taken apart. I had charged the flash capacitor and then accidentally touched the solder joints of the cap. The resulting shock caused my arm to shoot forward in a Bruce Lee like maneuver, and my hand opened up at the same time. It happened so fast that I threw the camera circuit board across the room.

[@RaseBricks]

I did something similar when I worked in a photo lab. Was extracting the film on some cheap super stupidly impossible to open disposable camera and the flat head slipped and boom. Lol

[@seitenryu6844]

Fun times, I remember doing that, too.

[@acmhfmggru]

that used to be a right of passage for young men. basically a disposable stun machine.

[@Steel0079]

RIP camera

[@dustinlackey4250]

Ah yes.. the camera taser.. made one in middle school and it swiftly got taken away lol

[@WayneTheSeine]

The Action Lab, suffering for our education. Always great content. High voltage lines can literally blow an appendage off of your body, arm, foot, leg, etc. I know a guy who lost half a leg and the other foot from a 32K volt line. He was installing a piece of metal rake angle that came close enough to the line to jump to the metal. The devastation was immediate. I think the heat instantly vaporizes body fluids which then explode outwards....blowing off appendages.

[@a64738]

One of our cats accidentally made contact snout to tail phase to phase when it had climbed up a power pole that had a transformer. It was a 22kv line it made contact with, p (not the 220v output) and the sound it made was horrible loud 50hz and a huge blinding flash for about half a second and the cat did fall down to the ground. I got my 9mm pistol and walked to where the cat had fell and there it was, still alive breathing but not moving, looked like it was unconscious and I made sure it would not suffer... You could not see any signs on the body that it had been burned, but cats is covered with fur so it is hard to say. But it had gotten the full grunt of the 22kv line enough to make the power go out for the moment the arc flash lasted so I guess it would be badly burned on the inside.

[@WayneTheSeine]

@@a64738 It can be devastating. The guy I mentioned was a client we represented in a lawsuit. He lost his right leg at the knee and blew off his half is foot on the other leg. It is similar to a lightening strike on a tree where the tree explodes. The explosion is mostly from turning to instant steam within the tree. Much depends on the soil and its resistance. Another case I worked on a young man was installing an antenna that came into contact with a 13k line. The sandy soil had enough resistance to prevent the line breaker from tripping.... he laid on the ground and burned completely up....not much left of him.

[@aydenplayz5518]

Your videos just keep getting better! 😀

[@AgentOrange96]

Nice, you got the first comment!

[@aydenplayz5518]

@@AgentOrange96 very dangerous

[@aydenplayz5518]

that hes shocking himself

[@frenzy5754]

This video is so stupid

[@FASTFASTmusic]

You're the teacher I wish I had. I would be doing physics instead of music now

[@Lampe2020]

When I touch a metal handrail I always slap it or touch it first through a metal object like a key, because when I hit it with force I can trick my body into registering less pain from a static shock because it is prepared for impact. And when I touch through a key any shock is hitting a point on the key but the whole area of where my hand touches the key, reducing the amount of energy per same area and thus the pain.

[@AgentOffice]

They make static keychains that have a resistor to slow it

[@Lampe2020]

@@AgentOffice A simple metal rod or key distributes the energy enough that it doesn't hurt me, so I don't need a resistor.

[@Lampe2020]

Today something happened that I never thought would happen, I got an electric shock from the ceiling. That's because the fake ceiling's panels are put into metal rails suspended from the real ceiling by isolating ropes, so when I toiched the ceiling today to put a panel back into place the rails shocked me.

[@pjoskar1]

As an electrician for a final check i am touching the wire with my back of my finger, muscles will contract ,the finger will close to avoid electric shock

[@ms9001]

it's not to avoid touching electricity but to decrease the time in contact with the electricity. also if you grab it with 2 fingers, the electricity might cause your fingers to contract which cause your finger to hold onto the wire. if you just swipe your finger on the wire, you will end up disconnecting from the wire very quickly.

[@FreezeS]

Usually the electricians do this test after they turned down the breakers and when all the measuring equipment says there is no power on that wire. It's just to make sure that if they touch it they and somehow there is power on that wire, their hand won't lock grabing it.

[@AgentOffice]

​@@FreezeSI hit it to ground

[@911connoisseur]

​@@AgentOffice That's what most do, this guy is full of balooney.

[@memberwhen22]

never ever ground on one side and touch with the other side or you risk the current going straight thru your heart and it only takes the tiniest amount to disrupt its normal functioning

[@KraussEMUS1]

This was one of the most informative high voltage videos I've seen! I have a series of Ion thrusters on my channel that are the only ones that can lift their power supplies against Earth's gravity only with ion propulsion. They do produce less current though than the Wimshurst in the video. Both the Wimshurst and 40VDC experiments were dangerous and probably hurt a lot!

[@alaviealamort9572]

Thank you for testing things that we don't want to test ourself 🤝

[@kevinkevarson9513]

Momentum can also help carry you through the point of contact with a live wire, especially in DC circuits, reducing the duration of the shock. If you're already in motion, your momentum can help carry you past the point of contact more quickly than if you were stationary.

[@frozen_byte]

ElectroBoom needs to see this.

[@adonisengineering5508]

He did see it and also disproven skin effect short time ago. Best to update the error in understanding how skin effect applies only to good conductors, not human skin which is isolator.

[@Sparky_D]

ElectroBoom does this to wake up each morning

[@ThePrufessa]

Why?

[@duggydo]

It seems like I always learn more from this channel than I can from other sources. 👍🏻👍🏻

[@philsephton]

Warning - not only will this kill you, it will also hurt the whole time you're dying 😂

[@AndrewBerube41]

😂😂😂😂

[@pytis]

Even if it doesn't kill you it might cause permanent nerve and psychological damage down the line.

[@boddulasrikanth6047]

This is a doubt I had since my childhood. Thanks for clarifying it. You are a champ.

[@backscan3030]

"Don't be shocked" everyone breaks that rule when they look at their utility bill.

[@Dontlikeyellow]

A little thing I caught, the wimshurst machine or any other high voltage capacitor does not release LOW current I wouldn’t be surprised if the currents approached 15 amps, the real thing saving you is a low capacitance meaning that there is very little energy stored.

[@thorin1045]

for the advertisement: yes, i obviously want to help the face recognition tools evolve faster and be efficient enough to implement all the fun dystopian features asap.

[@donniev8181]

Great title! Used to do electric, the zaps and wintertime undergounds. Imagine digging a hole in the middle of winter on a wide-open flat field, absolutely sucks.

[@RoxGamingPL4080]

My friend as a baby put his hand into the open outlet during home renovations His entire hand was severly burned but luckily it all healed up leaving only scars on the skin except of his index finger that is bent to the side

[@charliesretrocomputing]

Damn, 120vdc is pretty dangerous, even more dangerous if it was 240 outside of the US! Glad he's ok!

[@RoxGamingPL4080]

@@charliesretrocomputing it was 240

[@charliesretrocomputing]

@@RoxGamingPL4080 Yikes lol

[@ELFMEDIA]

@@charliesretrocomputing 120v more dangerous than 240? Why?

[@charliesretrocomputing]

@@ELFMEDIA that’s not what I meant, I was saying that 120 alone is dangerous, and 240 is even more dangerous, sorry if that wasn’t clear… I’m not an expert so I could be wrong but higher voltage equals more danger right? 😂

[@jackdawsonanderson8285]

Thank you for your sacrifices so we can know and be entertained.😃😎

[@BuckMulligan72]

3:53 lol you almost completed the circuit with your face.

[@anim8dideas849]

He probably cut it out if he did😂

[@YtyFv-sf2xx]

Xd 😂😂

[@massimodevitis6069]

5:22 the current is high, as well as the voltage, but for a very short period of time, so the ENERGY is small, but whatever... good channel still.

[@dolphinfullive]

Yes! No reasons for small current. High voltage, body resistance as is and Ohm's law.

[@maxvonboeventer6132]

I'm so pleased you are doing this so I don’t have to! I’ve always wondered but never had the courage. I can feel your pain. What men do for science!

[@laserdiode]

I used the same technique demontrated at 0:06 to touch an electric fence. The voltage was pulsing with 0.5s delays so I didn't feel it until I grabbed the fence

[@licencetoswill]

this proves again that it's not volts OR amps that kill, it's joules. A joule is one watt second, so time is a factor

[@danielninedorf5502]

AC "holds" you. DC throws you off. 4 microamps thru your heart can be deadly, depending upon which part of the heart beat is interrupted. Also "step effect", the distance between your feet and the maximum voltage across the earth.

[@d4slaimless]

Not micro-amps, but rather milli-amps. Could it happen that you confused m = milli with µ = micro? Quote from Ohio Sate University site: "Any amount of current over 10 milliamps (0.01 amp) is capable of producing painful to severe shock, currents between 100 and 200 mA (0.1 to 0.2 amp) are lethal. Currents above 200 milliamps (0.2 amp), while producing severe burns and unconsciousness, do not usually cause death if the victim is given immediate attention". Also just some random quotes: 1) "A current of as little as 0.007 amps (7mA) across the heart for three seconds is enough to kill." This is usually the most quoted value. 2) "Current Reaction Below 1 Milliamp Generally not perceptible, 1 Milliamp Faint Tingle, 5 Milliamps Slight shock felt." 4microamps = 0,000004A is a VERY low current, which you probably won't feel at all no matter where you applied it.

[@IslandHermit]

Another issue with high voltage is that the spark can jump to your finger before it actually makes contact. So for any given speed of your hand your finger will remain within "shocking range" longer with high voltages.

[@omsingharjit]

Electroboom - hey don't copy me 😂

[@stevesether]

I think the other thing you might be experiencing with the high voltage is simply pain from the spark. The spark heats up your finger, and causes pain. When I was a kid we had a trampoline that'd create a lot of static electricity if you dragged your socks on it. If you touched the metal frame when getting off, you'd get a nasty shock with a really large spark! Eventually I figured out that if you held something metal in your hand, and discharged the charge on via the metal to the frame, you wouldn't feel the shock. The spark would still happen, but the spark happened between the two pieces of metal, not your hand. It's also possible that the reason you don't feel pain is when holding the metal piece, current flow is spread out over a larger area of your hand holding the metal piece, and it's below any pain threshold. Could be tested pretty easily with using a small wire in contact with a small point on your finger though.

[@vampirecount3880]

"I will electrocute myself multiple times for science." What a guy

[@CGT80]

Unless he has died from a shock, he has never been electrocuted. Words mean things.......

[@vampirecount3880]

@@CGT80 Was a joke though

[@CGT80]

@@vampirecount3880 Oh, did Electoboom say that? If so, I missed it.

[@ranty_fugue]

Nice one. If you ever do electrical tests again, make sure to include common voltages, like 120 and 240, because it would be cool to contextualize in something people regularly encounter. Just don’t use the full amperage. 😉

[@smartspy007]

Bro was summoning elctroBOOM. 🤪🤪🤪

[@itkanAnil]

Explanation of skin effect in ac conductors is too appropriate 👍

[@bujin5455]

KZbin is like one large social experiment of: "What are people willing to do to themselves for money?"

[@brokkrep]

That's very cynical

[@klasodeth]

KZbin is late to the party. That question has been asked and answered by reality TV shows.

[@nazaa999]

He's not doing it for money but for science. There isn't many people as honest as this guy

[@loatherd]

@nazaa999 so kind of like the deals made in 1938 haha

[@bujin5455]

@@loatherd 😂

[@spirit-teacher]

This channel just keeps getting better and better

[@sebishoshocontostao1473]

0:40 "You will die if you try this" Me, about to put my tongue on a 9V battery: :O

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

It gets complicated, but volts and amps are involved. Corded telephones were particularly dangerous in the bathtub as they had their own power supply and enough juice to kill if they fell in the tub.

[@sportschad]

The safety flick is a handy electrical tester. Works well with safety squints, and safety open toe sandals.

[@PowerScissor]

I'm only a few minutes in, but I sure hope he tests out the old don't pee on an electric fence stories we heard as a kid.

[@rawmar1385]

Mythbusters did this

[@mickeygallo6586]

I'm an electrician and I'd say the idea (which I don't by any means advocate) is that there's just less chance of getting "hooked' on the source if the hand has some momentum. For a situation in which the voltage and amperage values are known as being limited, the back of hand is safer, but a non-contact pen tester that, again, is known as being non-defective is best. Of course, listen to the warnings given.

[@ThomasGutierrez]

Thanks for doing this, but it was rough to watch sometimes. You are transforming into the Coyote Peterson of tabletop science with this one...

[@onradioactivewaves]

Wile. E. Coyote Peterson

[@BernhardHimmer]

If the frequency is high enough, there should not even be thermal problems, since the electrons do not move far enough to cause disordered movement of the atoms and molecules.

[@a64738]

That is not how it works, if you touch a 200.000w 1Ghz radio transmitter it will fry you real good... RF burn is not fun and very painful.

[@BernhardHimmer]

@@a64738 At this frequency and power, it is the electromagnetic microwave radiation that kills you, not the current passing through your body.

[@gevinblue]

instructions unclear - *i moved away from home really fast, while gripping live wire*

[@matthewtymaja3760]

Am just starting watching, but have liked. Something very important : use ‘linesman’s gloves’. Putting that aside, electricity makes muscles contract. The human hand can clench MUCH more than it can ‘open’. Electrified items can make your hand clamp onto them, and you can’t let go -> death by electrocution. Using a closed fist, or back of hand, prevents this particular horrifying risk!

[@N0zer0]

10:40 too late I'm shocked watching this video

[@kj8476]

Actually it depends on the polarisation it wont feel the same. You can try it

[@0pp841]

3:22 He sounded like he felt it in his lungs.

[@I86282]

4.20. current propagation. Which has a different speed depending on it resistance. Because current is the actual flow of electrons. And electrons are not actually moving anywhere near the speed of light. And the conductivity of your body. It actually takes a little time to propagate enough current to produce a physical sensation. So. Current propagation time.

[@I86282]

4:35. Hey look at that You got it right.

[@laserdiode]

If current propagated at the drift velocity of the electrons it would take years for it to reach your elbow (assuming the current was close to 1 mA). The electric field propagates close to the speed of light and it applies a force to the electrons that causes them to start moving almost at the same time. At 4:35 he showed how nerves need different duration of current flowing through them to register depending on the amount of current

[@ssc_cgl_2024_topper]

There's a reason women live longer than men😂

[@xcoder1122]

The speed does not change how "hard" you get shocked, but it does change how "long" you get shocked, and yes, that makes a huge difference. The fast flick also prevents your hand muscles from cramping around the cable, because if that happens, you cannot release it and you are stuck with the constant shock. And even at higher voltages, it may not change how you feel, but it will change how much damage it does. If the pulse is short enough, you can easily survive a current that would definitely kill you if you'd just hold on for a single second. It will still hurt, and you may still need emergency treatment, but there is a difference between being in a hospital and being in a cemetery.

[@orionspur]

Action Lab with Johnny Knoxville. 😂

[@SippoCoffee]

so many ElectroBoom comments, I love it. I would like to see what happens if you touch a wire with a dry hand and diffrent (also dry) gloves. Don't touch wires seems like a good suggestion, but sometimes you have to and it feels better to know you have a habbit (gloves, or smth) for when you might be tired or distracted (and don't remember if the power is on or off)

[@jabrow7135]

If you hold the probe and slowly increase voltage from 0 to practically anything you will barely notice anything. We used to do this in electronics class and would max the supply at 150v. We also used to throw capacitors to people so they discharge it in their hands.

[@peterpowers4851]

Speed equals shorter exposure so yes, moving fast makes it less painful.

[@kwantator]

7:35 And you don't see privacy issues? Amazing tool for stalkers.

[@TSGEnt]

In my past, I've been an electrical contractor. Been "bit" a few times. For me there has always been a nauseous feeling a few moments afterward. I'm not one who feels nauseous over things in general. Something about electricity. btw, love the Event Horizon T-shirt.

[@mharoonrs]

1:10 😅😂 it's a good idea, NOT 😅

[@Wised1000]

Another safety tip, never touch a wire that could be live with your palms. Always use the back of your hands. If you get shocked, that will contract your biceps making you break the circuit, if you touch it with your palm the hand contraction will make you grab the cable, thus what could have just been a quick shock becomes a full electrocution.

[@TheRealNarcid]

save over 10 min of your life. Transcript: 10:39 "so the takeaway message is this don't get shocked. never touch live wires, and always make sure the system you're touching is not powered".😂🙉🙈🙊

[@wojtekpolska1013]

I think people do this because if your hand is already moving you have a guarantee that no matter what happens u wont be touching the wire a moment after u touched it. cause if you just grabbed the wire, the electricity will constrict your muscles and it actually is possible for your fingers to grab the wire with you unable to do anything

[@CLAVISECHO]

Free palestine

[@silkplayer9]

Go there and fight for them you coward

[@trissebude2184]

Free Israel from Palestine

[@hughjanus5518]

Palestine doesn't even exist. 😂 Never has.

[@shinjiikari1021]

M8, you can have what ever views you want, but ya know, perhaps not spread thine opinions in the comment section of some unrelated at all science video

[@erdmannelchen8829]

What does that all have to do with this video?

[@gnagyusa]

An important rule is that (if you absolutely have to), you should touch it with the back of your finger. This is because the flexor muscles are stronger than the extensors, so there's a much smaller chance that you end up grabbing it and getting stuck because your flexors will be pulling your hand away instead of grabbing it.

[@omsingharjit]

Moving fast helps! Yes definitely it shorts time duration and prevent you from sticking it with live wire.

[@LeopoldoGhielmetti]

I think that the primary reason you're not shocked when going fast at 40V is because the same kind of reason we use PVM. If you consider yourself as a capacitor, the faster the pulse, the less charges you load. So you have a lesser shock. When using high voltage (like in the second experiment) you have a spark that triggers in a millisecond. That happens if you are going fast or slow, the spark is always the same, so you receive the same amount of charges and it hurts the same. The correct experiment should have been to have a constant power supply that delivers 50KV. In that case you have felt a difference with the speed: going fast you are dead, going slow you are burned to a crisp.

[@Kepler_2258]

actually those electrostatic generators dump tens of Amps when they initially discharge just the time exposure is so low that's why it doesn't kill you, also the skin effect doesn't actually work with humans since the resistance of your skin is so high it pretty much cancels out the effect

[@trxtech3010]

You should have put a ground wire on your wrist, the way you're doing that by stepping on something that's grounded you're sending electrical through your heart, which is absolutely dangerous even even with low amperage.

[@dividivus]

3:58 if it is DC, then change the polarity and try again. And also it is important to touch possibly live wires with the extensor part of your hand (the back of your hand or finger), so if an electric shock occurs, the muscle contraction will take away the limb from the wire. On the other hand, by touching the wire in the palm will result in grabbing that wire and no way to willingly let go.

[@vincent412l7]

Test with the back (outside) of the hand or finger instead of the front (inside). The fingrs will contract and the hand will close, so using the outside will curl the fingers away from it, while using the indide will curl the fingers and close the hand around it (grasping it).

[@hasangarmarudi2178]

During electric shock, hand muscles are contracted by the electricity. This induces a "grasping" action that may further put you in danger by grabbing the wire unwillingly. Moving fast prevents you from grabbing the wire. Although a better way is to touch the wire with the back of your hand rather than palm or tip of finger. The best and professional way is to use safety gear, like boots, gloves and phasemeter screwdrivers.

[@evilsharkey8954]

I used to volunteer for a physics show where they would sometimes have a person stand on an insulated platform with their feet in a pan of water connected to a good sized spark gap style tesla coil. The person would wear thimbles on their fingers and a metal crown with spikes to provide corona points so the sparks didn’t burn. I did it for one show, and, as a skinny woman, I felt a lot of it! I had to wear theatrical gloves soaked in salt water and chainmail butchers gloves to keep my fingers from feeling the 60 cycle background buzz too strongly. I couldn’t bend my arms at the elbows when it was powered because it took control of my scrawny arms. Eventually, I started feeling a sharp pain in my Achilles tendon, and I didn’t volunteer to do it again. By the way, I never see people do that demonstration online, just people in faraday suits. Is that because solid state Tesla coils are unsafe for the demo or because people are weenies now?

[@felixb.1756]

An important note to the whimshurst machine: it is NOT low current. Its a small capacitor discharging through your body so no matter what there is a high current (probably over 10A) flowing through your body but it isn't lethal because the capacitor discharges very fast. There is no way you could move your hand that fast.

[@kjmccarx]

I was making a home-made 40v power tool battery and accidentally got shocked by it while soldering. It definitely messed up my hand and threw the soldering iron across the main contacts, ruining the PCB. I learned my lesson about DC voltage that day.

[@cahdoge]

Not having watched the video yet, my suggestion would be, that there are two benifits. You are already moving your arm so despite getting shocked eventual muscle cramping will be shorter reducing the painful impact a shock would have. Additionally you are not in danger of holding onto the wire due to cramping reducing the risk a shock would have.

[@olmostgudinaf8100]

styropyro did an excellent video on this topic a few years ago, answering the perennial question: "what kills you, the voltage or the current?" The answer is, neither of them are enough on their own. The deadly combination is voltage, current *and time!* Even a large current is not going to kill you if lasts just a few microseconds.

[@sapiense-science-cerveau]

Experimenting current flow from the right arm to the right leg was a smart choice

[@andycopeland7051]

PSA: Dont touch live circuitry with your left hand. If you get shocked the current will almost certainly have to cross through or near your heart, which is the worst place you can get it

[@baganatube]

Another more intuitive way of seeing high-frequency AC shock is, the electrons that the AC injects into your finger is taken back very quickly when the polarity flips, leaving them less time to make deeper damage (your body is a big capacity). However, at skin level, those currents are real, and therefore, actually burn your skin.

[@sieciobywatel]

One trick is to touch with the outer part of hand/finger. This way muscle contraction breaks the circuit. It also prevents you from grabbing the wire, when muscles contract, which would be deadly.

[@idlevalley]

Put the back of your arm near the wire. If you feel the hair stand up, do not go closer. If not, touch it with the back of your hand. So that your muscles contracting will pull your hand away.

[@rogeriocosta1035]

I do not recommend it, but the point to "test" residential voltages this way is to not get stuck. A shot low voltage shock will not kill you, but If you grab, pinch or step a live part/wire, you muscles can contract and hold you in the position until you die. BtW, in residencial environment, most people die from falling from stairs when get shocked them from the shock itself. Other major danger is working on electricity while other people is working around in other things, they can turn the circuit on without knowing someone is working on it.

[@danc2014]

They once made a Hot Dog cooker. You connect the hot dog between the 2 probes put on the cover and plug it in. The cover provided some protection and it also steamed the buns. Rumors were it just provided 120 V across the hot dog.