May
16How does the body feel electric shock?
Filed Under (Germany) by admin on 16-05-2008
Tagged Under : Body Sense, Corpuscles, Electric Shock, Mechanoreceptors, Merkel, Ruffini Endings, Stretching
Cassandra R asked:
I learned about the mechanoreceptors in the skin, and so I know that meissner corpuscles feel rubbing, merkel disks feel pressure, ruffini endings feel stretching and pacinian corpuscles feel vibrations. But, in that context, how does the body sense an electric shock, like from static? Is there a specific receptor for that?
I learned about the mechanoreceptors in the skin, and so I know that meissner corpuscles feel rubbing, merkel disks feel pressure, ruffini endings feel stretching and pacinian corpuscles feel vibrations. But, in that context, how does the body sense an electric shock, like from static? Is there a specific receptor for that?
An electric shock can occur upon contact of a human or animal body with any source of voltage high enough to cause sufficient current flow through the muscles or nerves. The minimum detectable current in humans is thought to be about 1 milliampere (mA). The current may cause tissue damage or heart fibrillation if it is sufficiently high. A fatal electric shock is referred to as electrocution.
Psychological
The perception of electric shock can be different depending on the voltage, duration, current, path taken, frequency, etc. Current entering the hand has a threshold of perception of about 5 to 10 mA (milliampere) for DC and about 1 to 10 mA for AC at 60 Hz. Shock perception declines with increasing frequency, ultimately disappearing at frequencies above 15-20 kHz.
[edit] Physiological
Burns - Tissue heating due to resistance can cause extensive and deep burns. High-voltage (> 500 to 1000 V) shocks tend to cause internal burns due to the large energy (which is proportional to the square of the voltage) available from the source. Damage due to current is through tissue heating. In some cases 16 volts might be fatal to a human being when the electricity passes through organs such as heart.
Ventricular fibrillation - A low-voltage (110 to 220 V), 50 or 60-Hz AC current travelling through the chest for a fraction of a second may induce ventricular fibrillation at currents as low as 60mA. With DC, 300 to 500 mA is required. If the current has a direct pathway to the heart (e.g., via a cardiac catheter or other electrodes), a much lower current of less than 1 mA, (AC or DC) can cause fibrillation. Fibrillations are usually lethal because all the heart muscle cells move independently. Above 200mA, muscle contractions are so strong that the heart muscles cannot move at all.
Neurological effects - Current can cause interference with nervous control, especially over the heart and lungs.
When the current path is through the head, it appears that, with sufficient current, loss of consciousness almost always occurs swiftly. (This is borne out by some limited self-experimentation by early designers of the electric chair and by research from the field of animal husbandry, where electric stunning has been extensively studied) [1].
Arc-flash hazards - Over 80% of all injuries and fatalities caused by electrical incidents are not caused by electric shock, but by the intense heat, light, and pressure wave (blast) caused by electrical faults. The arc-flash in an electrical fault produces the same type of light radiation from which electric welders protect themselves using face shields with dark glass, heavy leather gloves, and full-coverage clothing. The heat produced may cause severe burns, especially on unprotected flesh. The blast produced by vaporizing metallic components can break bones and irreparably damage internal organs. The degree of hazard present at a particular location can be determined by a detailed analysis of the electrical system, and appropriate protection worn if the electrical work must be performed with the electricity on. Worker safety standards in the USA require, though, that the electricity be turned off before work is performed unless a greater hazard will result from turning the power. Yah
Our body gets an electric shock cause as all living bodies are very good conductors of electricity the electrons flow through the body we normally get electric shocks when the voltage of electricity is higher than the body can take. The charged electrons affects the nervous system which fails to do its normal functions that’s why we get the pain