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Re: Power Lines



Tina,
Student ask the damnedest questions. Where would the current come
from that stopped his heart? His internal resistance is much greater then
the resistance of a section of a single power line that he is holding on
to. If he grabbed between two of the wires or the wire and the ground that
is a whole different story. They make cherry pickers whose basket and
extension support are fiber glass, so that high tension power lines can be
worked on hot. As long a you don't become part of the conductor, your
danger of being electrocuted is minimal.
The large Van de Graaff generator that is now in the Boston
Science Museum had an office in the second sphere that was used by the
builder, of course that is shielded inside the metal sphere. If you ever
get to Boston don't miss the show - very impressive sparks.
Gary

At 11:01 AM 2/25/03 -0600, you wrote:
Today in class, we were talking about why birds standing on power lin=
es don't get electrocuted.

One of my students asked if he grabbed on to a power line would he ge=
t electrocuted.. yes, because the current would flow through the ches=
t and could stop his heart...

He then asked if he stood on the power line, like a bird, would he ge=
t electrictuted.

I was like what kind of an idiot would want to stand on a high pwer l=
ine....(okay maybe not so tactful)=20
But would you get electricuted?
I would think that if the current went foot-to-foot you would be okay=
, but who really wants to take that chance?

Thanks
Tina
PS I did search google....not finding anything useful yet...

Tina Fanetti
Physics Instructor
Western Iowa Technical Community College
4647 Stone Ave
Sioux City IA 51102
712-274-8733 ext 1429