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RedDeerGuy1's avatar

Is it the amp's in that kill you, and not the voltage?

Asked by RedDeerGuy1 (24986points) August 9th, 2021

Just wondering. What are the amp’s and voltage of a typical lighting bolt?

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6 Answers

kritiper's avatar

The voltage is the pressure that drives the amps through a wire. Resistance (load) is the control. Amperage is the flow of electrons.
There is no resistance when a bolt of lightning hits you (so the amperage is out of this world) and the voltage is through the roof.

Tropical_Willie's avatar

Millions of volts !

Blackwater_Park's avatar

1.21 gigawatts!!

LostInParadise's avatar

Technically it is the amperage that is responsible, since the amperage is the flow of electrons, but there would be no flow unless there was a high voltage. The situation is analogous to this. Suppose you have a giant magnet that attracts a small metal object that moves at a high speed, due to the strength of the magnet, and gets crushed when it hits the magnet. What caused the object to break, the speed the object was traveling at or the strength of the magnetism?

RocketGuy's avatar

On one hand, voltage (esp. AC) will disrupt nervous functions like brain and heartbeat. On the other hand, watts (volts x amps) will cause heating which will burn organs in the electrical path.

At work we deal with batteries capable of high voltage and high amps, but we have to be grounded to the equipment to prevent static electricity damage. Our grounding strap has to be on the wrist of the working hand, in case there is a short. That way, critical organs will not get burned.

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