Eli5: if electricity passes through you and into the ground, does that cause a fuse to blow?

1.35K views

I’ve just watched an old tv show where the main character is tortured in someone’s basement with a live wire. The current is obviously flowing from the wire, through him and into the ground. Why does this not cause the fuse to blow?

I think this is probably just an error on their part, but I’m kinda curious now if that’s actually correct or not. I’m tempted to steal the idea for a book I’m writing but I’d need to know first whether or not that’s a valid method of torturing someone (never thought I’d find myself writing that sentence 😆).

In: 5

12 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

20 amps will kill the *shit* out of you. That is a common breaker limit in US households. It doesn’t actually take that much electrical energy to kill somebody, much less hurt them. A regular battery can sometimes do it, if it’s run through the proper device.

A regular battery caps out at something like 2 watts. A taser battery might be closer to 100 watts. Car batteries clock in at upwards of 1,000 watts. A hefty vacuum cleaner draws 2,000 watts straight from the outlet and doesn’t blow a fuse.

You are viewing 1 out of 12 answers, click here to view all answers.