Further thoughts on A.C. vs. D.C. from C.D. Prewitt
(Page 2 of 3)
Now don't misunderstand me! Current can be dangerous,
especially if you don't know what you're doing, and there
are some chances no one should take. (For example, don't
risk shocks of any kind when you're working in a
high place . . . on a windmill, perhaps. If you feel the
current it's likely that you'll instinctively jump away
from it, and you may lose your hold and fall.)
Nevertheless, there's a theory—one I subscribe
to—that most so-called shock deaths are really caused
by fright. Certainly a severe jolt can be an alarming
experience.
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But whether or not electricity is as harmful to the body as
most people think, I continue to believe that the danger is
less from D.C. than from A.C. . . . and with reason. By the
time I was ten years old we kids had our workshop (an
abandoned corncrib) stocked with enough No. 6 dry cells to
give us 110 volts D.C., which we played with all the time.
If we'd fooled around with that much A.C. I doubt that I'd
be writing now.
I've also done some experiments since then that bear out my
belief. For instance, at one time a neighboring town had a
community generating plant that put out 110 volts D.C. When
I was in that facility with some other workers installing
electrical equipment, I got to wondering what that amount
of direct current would feel like. Then an opportunity
presented itself and I grasped the blades of the main
switch. I'm sure that my hands couldn't have been very
drysince we were working in a rather warm room—and I
didn't put anything on them to increase resistance . . .
yet I could feel only the ripple of the current, which
wasn't at all uncomfortable. I held on until my skin began
to get hot, at which point no effort was required to
release the control . . . I simply let go.
Here's another case: In the early days of radio a good many
receivers—including all amateur models—were
D.C., and tubes required a plate voltage of 90 volts of
direct current. Since "B" batteries weren't being made (or
at least weren't available locally), some of us solved the
problem by building battery holders that would contain 60
flashlight "D" cells connected together in series. Because
this was little more than a "breadboard" arrangement, I've
felt 90 volts D.C. many times. There's certainly no
tendency to hang on and the sensation isn't very
disagreeable. But don't try touching 90 volts A.C. or
you'll learn something fast.
