I think I heard somewhere that it was in the thousands of volts, but it had extremely, extremely low amps. Could you somehow transform the current to make it larger or something? Or does the equation of volt*amp apply, making the overall power still merely an annoying sting?
[Physics] the voltage of an average carpet static shock? Can you make it lethal
electric-currentelectricityvoltage
Best Answer
A hospital-type defibrillator provides capacitor-discharge with hundreds of joules per pulse. Carpet/doorknob sparks are quite a bit less:
Carpet shocks:
Defibrillator designers say that the "danger zone" for producing fibrillation is in the range of joules or few tens of joules. Lower than that, and the impulses cannot trigger fibrillation in normal hearts. And far higher, instead we get "defib" or "cardioversion" effects where the pulse momentarily overrides the heart's natural pacemaker. Note that this applies to external defib, as with paddle electrodes applied to skin.
Can we make it lethal? Yes, just stab a piece of coathanger into your chest muscles, and apply the spark directly! ;) That's "internal defibrillation" using implanted electrodes. One of the early heart researchers managed to kill himself in just this way, by applying quite small pulses to his chest electrodes, but with pulses adjusted to be in the center of the phase/amplitude "lethal window" in his heart's QRS waveform. If you doorknob-zap an implanted chest electrode, probably you won't die the first time, but don't repeat the experiment over and over, because eventually you'll accidentally miss the lucky conditions.
The old trick with the VandeGraaff machine and the row of schoolkids holding hands is probably unwise. If the last kid in the chain happens to have a serious undiagnosed heart condition, the big zap from the stored charge is near the lower threshold of actually causing harm.