AC vs DC

                       AC vs DC
AC and DC are the two forms of current which we use
in our daily life. You might have a question that which one among these AC vs DC will be very dangerous to the humans. In fact there exists many theories to justify that this specific form of current is very dangerous comparing to the other one. But still the debate on this
thing seems to be continuing and still there is no solid proof to point out one form of current is lethal than the
other one. This article intend to explain the effects of these two forms of currents in a human body and attempt to bring out the dangerous one into the spotlight.
CHARACTERSTICS OF AC:
AC is alternating in nature, it undergoes change in magnitude with respect to time and takes the form of a sine curve.
AC continuously changes its flow direction when flowing through a circuit.
AC signal posses some frequency and each country
uses AC of different frequency.
The Voltage or Current value of a AC is RMS (Root
mean square) and thus the peak value of AC is
usually 1.4 times the RMS value.
CHARACTERSTICS OF DC:
DC is direct in nature, it does not undergo change in magnitude with respect to time.DC is Unidirectional, therefore flows only in a single direction.
DC signal does not posses any frequency.
The maximum voltage in a DC will always remain the same.
EFFECT OF AC IN THE HUMAN BODY:
AC tend to contract the body muscles repeatedly
since it posses frequency. It can also fibrillate
human heart, imagine a human heart fibrillates at
the frequency of a AC signal ! Deadly Isn’t it?
AC can cause current to enter and exit the body
without closed path, therefore it can easily pass
through the vital organs in our body.
AC peak value is 1.4 times the RMS value so a
220V AC supply is going to 308V before coming
down to zero and then changes its direction. So the
human experience high voltage shock in case of AC.
EFFECT OF DC IN THE HUMAN BODY:
DC is continuous in nature hence it will contract the
muscles continuously and therefore the chance of
relaxing the grip from the conductor is less. This is
known as “Can’t let go” factor of DC.
DC is said to cause electrolysis in the body fluids,
therefore the person experienced a shock have the
risk of dying due to poisoning.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AC VS DC SHOCK:
Both AC and DC shocks are lethal but in case of DC
it requires more current to produce the same effect
as AC does.
AC goes through a zero crossing before changing
direction which is in a matter of milli seconds but
DC is continuous in nature so the hold of DC is
stronger than AC.
AC will fibrillate the heart muscles whereas DC will
froze the heart while contraction. A frozen heart
have better chance of regaining the normal beat
pattern than a fibrillating heart.
AC has higher chance of getting and exit the body
without a closed path because of its bidirectional
nature whereas DC cannot do that.
There are also several factors which decides the
intensity of shock received by a human. Among that
amplitude of current, time duration of the contact,
frequency plays an important role in deciding the
intensity of the shock received.
CONCLUSION:
Summing up all the above things, its clear that both DC
and AC are lethal when come in contact with human.
Even though AC seems to have a edge over DC both
are capable of ruining your day or even your life. Its
like “Getting hit by a truck or falling from five storey
building” , in both cases the damage will be
catastrophic. So it is advised to follow proper safety
measures and handle these with respect.