Electrocution of the Human Body

Man being electrocuted: funny picture - RF Cafe Physiological effects of current density on the human body are shown in the table below. Contrary to popular belief, it is the current - not the voltage - level which is responsible for effects. According to Ohm's Law, of course, a certain voltage is required to cause the necessary currents to flow. Values show vary depending on the body.

Personally, I have been hit with 480 V while working on a 3-phase industrial motor connection. It didn't feel good.

See article on shock level versus pain level from Discover magazine.

The following table of quantity of electrical current and its effect on men and women is from work done by the inventor of the Ground Fault Interrupter circuit, Charles Dalziel.

Other RF Cafe resources on electrocution: Eliminate Risk of Fatal Electric Shock with the GFI | Mac's Service Shop: Electric Shock | Potential Neutral Conductor Hazards | Electrocution of the Human Body

Effect	Direct Current (mA)		Alternating Current (mA)
	Direct Current (mA)		60-Cycles		10,000 Cycles
	Men (mA)	Women (mA)	Men (mA)	Women (mA)	Men (mA)	Women (mA)
Slight sensation on hand	1	0.6	0.4	0.3	7	5
Perception threshold, median	5.2	3.5	1.1	0.7	12	8
Shock - not painful and muscular control not lost	9	6	1.8	1.2	17	11
Painful shock - muscular control lost by ½%	62	41	9	6	55	37
Painful shock - let-go threshold, median	76	51	16	10.5	75	50
Painful and severe shock - breathing difficult, muscular control lost by 99½%	90	60	23	15	94	63
Possible ventricular fibrillation Three-second shocks Short shocks (T in seconds) High voltage surges * Energy in watt-seconds	500 50	500 50	100 165√T 13.6*	100 165√T 13.6*

Table retrieved from the "Deleterious Effects of Electric Shock," by Professor Charles Dalziel, 1961.

Current Level (mA)	Effect
1	Threshold of sensation
8	Mild sensation
10	Painful
13	Cannot let go
21	Muscular paralysis
20	Severe shock
38	Breathing labored
42	Breathing upset
70	Extreme breathing difficulties
90	Ventricular fibrillation
100	Death

Above is the original table for this page.

Posted April 26, 2004

Wireless System Designer
RF & EE Symbols Word
RF Stencils for Visio
Calculator Workbook
RF Workbench
Smith Chart™ for Visio
Smith Chart™ for Excel

RF Cafe began life in 1996 as "RF Tools" in an AOL screen name web space totaling 2 MB. Its primary purpose was to provide me with ready access to commonly needed formulas and reference material while performing my work as an RF system and circuit design engineer. The Internet was still largely an unknown entity at the time and not much was available in the form of WYSIWYG ...

All trademarks, copyrights, patents, and other rights of ownership to images and text used on the RF Cafe website are hereby acknowledged.

My Hobby Website:
AirplanesAndRockets.com