[cynwoody]

Recall that Tesla and Edison battled over the danger of Edison's preferred DC current's danger to electrocute people. AC was safer because you could let go of it, the argument went.

You're thinking of George Westinghouse, not Nikola Tesla. And AC was more, not less, dangerous, at least according to Edison.

Westinghouse was promoting AC power distribution and was winning over Edison because AC is technically superior in that application. Edison had implemented some of the very earliest electric utilities, and they were DC-based.

However, AC is indeed more dangerous to humans. Hence, Edison tried to coin the transitive verb "to westinghouse", meaning "to electrocute". And, indeed, all implementations of Old Sparky have been AC-powered. As are all modern power grids.

[outofsalt]

"AC is indeed more dangerous to humans."

The most dangerous current to humans is the one you are working with! Either can kill you under the right circumstances.

[Moltke]

Just for general background...the reason AC is used is that transmission losses are proportional to the *square* of the *current*. AC can be transformed to high voltage/low current at one end and back to a more usable low voltage/high current at the other end. Transformers don’t work with DC...

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Recall that Tesla and Edison battled over the danger of Edison's preferred DC current's danger to electrocute people. AC was safer because you could let go of it, the argument went.

AC was more, not less, dangerous, at least according to Edison.

Westinghouse was promoting AC power distribution and was winning over Edison because AC is technically superior in that application. Edison had implemented some of the very earliest electric utilities, and they were DC-based.

However, AC is indeed more dangerous to humans. Hence, Edison tried to coin the transitive verb "to westinghouse", meaning "to electrocute". And, indeed, all implementations of Old Sparky have been AC-powered. As are all modern power grids.

I agree. Specifically, Edison promoted the Electric Chair - using AC - specifically for the purpose of promoting the idea of the danger of AC. Edison was selling . . .

You're thinking of George Westinghouse, not Nikola Tesla.

I believe that to be a distinction without a difference, in that Westinghouse was only in electricity because Tesla - a former employee of Edison - convinced Westinghouse to promote AC.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

I intended to add that a defibrillator analyzes the EKG of the patient and applies the shock at the right time. It doesn’t take much of a shock at the wrong time in the heartbeat cycle to throw the heart into fibrillation, and kill.

[MHGinTN]

Westinghouse bought the rights from Tesla and Tesla worked for him, albeit he retained a 2% royalty per KwH. Later, when Westinghouse told him he was on the verge of bankruptcy, Tesla gave back the royalty clause.