What voltage and amps are and why high volts may not kill you but high amps will
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Volts is the potential that causes charges to move. And current is the amount of charge that is moving. People frequently use the water analogy where volts is the pressure of a hose, and the current is the flow of the water going through the hose.
You need both to kill you since it is the energy transfer that kills you and energy is the product of volts, current, and time.
A high voltage with no current won’t cause you many issues. You experience this with the zap from static electricity. This is extremely high voltage (thousands to millions of volts), but hardly any power is delivered since the current dissipates very quickly and the voltage drops just as quickly.
If you have a current flowing through you, then that means you have enough voltage to make that current flow. Humans skin is relatively high resistance 1k to 100k depending on dryness, so to get appreciable current you have appreciable voltage and appreciable power. 10mA current can give nasty shocks, and 100 to 200mA is generally considered fatal. Even if not fatal, electrical current will cause heat in the body and can damage tissues.
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