Posted on 07/11/2017 8:47:48 AM PDT by Timpanagos1
A 14-year-old Texas girl died Sunday morning after she was electrocuted while using her cellphone in the bathtub, according to family members.
“This is such a tragedy that doesn’t need to happen to anyone else,” Madison Coe’s grandmother, Donna O’Guinn, told KCBD. “We want something good to come out of this as awareness of not using your cellphone in the bathroom as it is plugged in and charging.”
(Excerpt) Read more at statesman.com ...
Voltage doesn’t kill, amperage does. As little as 200 milli amps across the chest through the heart can do you in.
And on another note an example I had to deal with.
My daughters boyfriend thought and argued that it was okay to heat the home by using the gas stove and propane heaters. Believe me it took two arguments to make him understand it is stupid, even in light of the fact the many die every year from exactly that.
Of course.
“She was very smart. Very good student in school”
Needed more physics classes.
An extension cord, and no GFCI were the real culprit, but Apple has deeper pockets than the extension cord company.
Sad. She looks to have been a really nice little girl.
“That was just very obvious that that’s what had happened.”
Well, no, it’s not obvious what happened. It’s unlikely that this could have happened as described in the article.
And don't walk backwards under a new moon on a Tuesday when the calendar date is an even number!
Look, I'm sorry a young life was cut short but the trend of family members virtue signaling after what can only be described as death by misadventure - or foolishness - must stop. Nobody needs to 'learn' from this since we already knew the dangers of mixing electrical current and water.
It is most likely that the "charger" did not electrocute the person. However, the 115 VAC 60 Hz electricity that the charger plugs into will.
Remember when chargers used to be fat heavy things instead of the nearly weightless things they are now? That’s because they used transformers to reduce the voltage from 120VAC (which can kill you) to 12 or so volts DC which cannot. The transformer also provided galvanic isolation, which means the thing being charged was totally disconnected electrically from the AC wiring. These chargers have virtually been eliminated because of the “green” push because each transformer draws a tiny amount of current as long as it’s plugged in, which of course “adds up” to something less than what Algore burns in one of his private jet trips, but that’s beside the point. We needed laws to protect us from wasting energy and by damn, we got them.
Modern chargers use switchmode technology which does not provide the same degree of isolation or intrinsic voltage reduction. They are considered “safe” by virtue of putting all the nasty stuff inside plastic where you can’t touch it, and depending on people to plug them into the wall as intended. If you use an extension cord that could allow the AC line to contact the bathwater, all bets are off with either type of charger.
“Sad. She looks to have been a really nice little girl.”
She lived in Lubbock.
Most people that live in Lubbock want a take a 400 amp arc welder in the bathtub with them it they thought it would get then out of Lubbock.
[ What we need is a LAW - ban all cellphone use in bathtubs.
Yes, good progressive legislators should confront this very important issue.
/s ]
Isn’t it funny that progressives always whine that we have too many people, but it seems they do what ever it takes to make sure they keep an abundance of stupid people from “darwining” themselves out of the gene pool.
I am beginning to think that they think we have “too many” smart people... Because they can control the idiots and morons, but they cannot fool the smart people.
So next time the Progressives tell you that we have “too many people” know that they actually mean to say that we have “too many smart people” who won’t fall for their Bull crap.
Completely correct:
https://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~p616/safety/fatal_current.html
It’s The Current That Kills. Any electrical device used on a house wiring circuit can, under certain conditions, transmit a fatal current. While any amount of current over 10 milliamps (0.01 amp) is capable of producing painful to severe shock, currents between 100 and 200 mA (0.1 to 0.2 amp) are lethal.
ban baths and bathtubs
I knew once one got beyond the sensational headline that of course she wasn’t killed by her cellphone. She was killed by the live electrical cord attached to her cellphone. So really, not much different than someone dropping a hair blow dryer in a bathtub, except that such a headline would not get as many clicks.
“Needed more physics classes.”
Needless to say, her background in physics was not well grounded.
Enough to kill. 100 to 200 milliamps (0.1 to 0.2 amps) will cause ventricular fibrillation, which can cause death.
https://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~p616/safety/fatal_current.html.
Surprisingly, above 200 milliamps may actually save your life.
Common sense lessons:
1. Teach your kids about the hazards of electricity and water. Then teach them again. And again.
2. Make sure all electrical outlets in bathrooms, kitchens, outdoors, and any other wet locations are GFCI protected. They are cheap and easy to install.
If everything works as designed it shouldn't cause a problem. But a wiring error or manufacturing defect might allow the 120 volt "hot" wire to float on the charger output. In such a case the problem could go unnoticed in a dry environment where there is no path to ground. But in the bathtub — zap!
Definitely sounds like Grade A Son in Law material.
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