20120709

Overheard: obligatory electrical safety warning

Physics 205B, spring semester 2012
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

(Overheard after instructor recounts a previous incident, having accidentally touched the exposed 5,000 V ends of a discharge tube apparatus.)

Student: "What did it feel it like?"

Instructor: "You know how when your stomach feels nauseous, like it wants to barf, but can't?" (Beat.) "That's how my arm felt for a few hours afterwards--like it wanted to barf, but couldn't."

2 comments:

Jim said...

Similarly, if you go to take a discharge tube out right after turning it off, it turns out that it is extremely hot, and your immediate reflex is to drop the fragile and expensive discharge tube on the floor.

Or so I've heard.

Patrick M. Len said...

Yes, we are all speaking here theoretically, of course.