Originally posted by sonhouseIt is totally incorrect to assume if you put your fingers across the power output of an appliance, you will get hit with rated current (unless the appliance is a genuine current source and has a high enough power rating to supply the voltage to send the current through a human's body).
That comes from the specs on a power supply or electric gadget,
IT takes 150 VAC at 0.3 amps to run.
A lot of people assume then thats what they absorb in energy,
150 volts, 1/3 amp about, = 50 watts. Its the skin resistance
that says what the current rating is, that and the impedence of the
power supply. If the supply was putting out its max of 0.3 a ...[text shortened]... body would be absorbing only
15 watts. At 3000 ohms, your body would only absorb 7 watts.
Etc.
BTW, I realise this is what you are saying.
Originally posted by BigDoggProblemYep. That's why Thomas Edison lost the battle against Nikola Tesla. When folks in California must get their energy from dams in Washington, DC is out of the question (unless Grand Coulee need only light up a couple houses in Los Angeles).
I'm guessing line loss across looooong wire lengths would make this idea really impractical. AC allows the use of transformers for load isolation, too.