Which is more dangerous AC or DC? Explained in Detail

Which is dangerous among AC and DC

There are mainly two types of electric supply have, one is Alternating Current(AC) and the second is Direct Current. There are many advantages and disadvantages of AC and DC. When we talk about safety from electricity then always a question arises that Which is more dangerous AC or DC? Many people said AC and many people said DC. So today we discuss it.

Before going to know which is more dangerous, we should know, 

What is an electric shock? Which causes the electric shock current or voltage?

We already posted the article about it so please read that article first.

So voltage and current both is needed for electrical shock but as the voltage is the cause of the flow of current we can say voltage is the cause of electrical shock.

Now from the point of view of Voltage let's see which is more dangerous AC or DC?

First of all, if we take the voltage level of DC more than AC then DC will be more dangerous than AC. But if we take the voltage level of the DC as less than AC then the AC will be more dangerous than DC.
Now if we take the same voltage level, Suppose we take 240V AC and 240V DC then what will happen? We know that generally, we measure the AC voltage and current in RMS Value. So 240V AC means that the RMS value of the AC is 240V.
Most of the people say that as the AC has a peak value which is more than the RMS value so AC is More dangerous than DC. But I do not agree with them.

Click on the image to enlarge

The peak value of the 240V AC is = 240 × √2 = 339.41
In the above waveform of the AC, you can see that although the AC voltage reaches the peak value at a time it crosses through the Zero that means at a time the supply is totally off.
But in the case of DC, although it does not have any peak value, it always has a constant value or it does not off.
So from the point of view of voltage, we cannot say AC is more dangerous than DC or DC is more dangerous than AC for the same voltage level.

When we talk about AC there is a word that comes which is Frequency. Frequency is also very important when we compare AC and DC.

Now from the point of view of Frequency let's see which is more dangerous AC or DC?

As the DC has no frequency it cannot affect the human body but in the case of AC, it has Frequency so it affects the human body. The low-frequency AC like 60HZ is more dangerous than the same voltage DC as in 60Hz frequency the AC is very harmful to our Heart it can cause the Heart Attack. 

However, the high-frequency AC is less dangerous than DC for the same voltage level. In fact, a high-voltage AC with a high frequency is also less dangerous than a low-voltage DC. Heart-Attack and shock both are different don't be confused.


Read Also:

• [Main] Function and Purpose of Neutral Wire in Electrical Circuit
• The main important difference between AC and DC-Full explanation
• Why we use 220V, 50Hz AC at home instead of DC or other voltage? Full Explanation.
• Why Neutral Wire is not used in Transmission Line?
• Electrical Power Theory and Formula Explanation
• RLC Series and Parallel RESONANCE Comparison and Applications

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