-----Original Message-----
From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu on behalf of Hugh Haskell
Sent: Fri 8/25/2006 6:51 PM
To: Forum for Physics Educators
Subject: Re: [Phys-l] man successfully hangs from high voltage line
At 18:06 -0700 8/25/06, Shapiro, Mark wrote:
It looks like we have another candidate for the Darwin Award.
Well, it wasn't the smartest thing I have ever seen anyone do, but as
long as he wasn't touching a grounded object (or "earthed" since this
took place in the UK), when he transferred himself to the wire he was
OK. I don't know how far he had to drop to get down, so that might
have been another problem. But while hanging on the line he was in no
more danger than the birds who routinely sit on high tension power
lines, or the repair workmen who ride in little gondolas that hang
from the line while they work on it.
What I think is interesting is the ignorance of the constable. A
current of 5,000 volts??? Hasn't he ever seen birds sitting on that
line? How does he think they survive? Do they have some special
birdie ESP that enables then to know when the line has been shut down
so that there is only a "residual current of 5,000 volts" in it? Do
birds have the capability to survive 5,000 volts under these
circumstances? Clearly school physics in the UK isn's doing much
better than it is in the US.
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