@Damaged @Background Pony #20EE
That’s the whole thing. Voltage is the potential for current to flow. It’s true that current is what kills you, but only if voltage is high enough and resistance low enough to ALLOW the current to flow. If the voltage is too low to overcome the body resistance then current simply won’t flow. Voltage multiplied by current is the wattage, or work done, and voltage divided by resistance is the current that flows :D
Say you stick your finger in an electrical outlet. Outlets are 120v and can allow a max of 12A to flow before the breaker trips (breakers are rated for 15A but trip at 80%). Let’s say the resistance of the human body* is 100,000ohms (highest value of dry-condition adult male). That would mean a current flow of 0.0012A, or 1.2mA. That’s only about 0.144w, the type of current flow found in digital electronics, so it would be painful but not likely to hurt or injure you. If that outlet was only 60v, the current would only be 0.0006A, or 0.6mA, and only 0.072w. Conversely, if your body resistance was halved, that would be a current of 0.0024A, or 2.4mA, and 0.288w. Wet or broken skin can reduce the body’s resistance as low as 1000ohms, which would mean a current flow of 0.12A, or 120mA, and a wattage of 14.4w, which happens to be that sweet spot current value to cause fibrillation of the heart :D
So, while it IS true that current is what kills, it’s a “technically” kind of statement at absolute best since voltage is one of the key attributes that dictates current. It’s how people work on live high-voltage lines by being dropped on by a helicopter: voltage is actually a measure of difference in potential, so the worker is at the same potential as the lines, therefore zero volts, therefore zero current :D
*Note too that this is the resistance of the ENTIRE human body. If the current path only goes through half the body, it will be half the value. Also, resistance of the human body has a nasty habit of dropping to 500ohms when experiencing a high-voltage shock. And about a million other factors change this number :D
@Background Pony #706F @DR35
She feeds off of sweet foods like other slimes, but has a WAY bigger appetite to maintain her electric shocks :D