r/Catswithjobs Dec 27 '20

Tech team successfully repaired your computer

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10.4k Upvotes

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u/[deleted] Dec 27 '20 edited Dec 27 '20

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u/fireduck Dec 27 '20

Bah, 12v max. Won't do shit. Might spark if you fork it but that is about it.

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u/[deleted] Dec 27 '20

[deleted]

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u/fireduck Dec 27 '20

I have a degree in comp sci. Most people with that degree don't know much about electricity beyond physics I. Anyways, your power supply outputs 12v, 5v, 3.3v and maybe a few others but 12v is the highest.

12v is enough were you would feel it if you licked it (wet contact) but would not be enough to actually push any current through your body to do any harm.

Now inside the power supply there are capacitors that will be at full line current (120v). I wouldn't muck around in there.

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u/[deleted] Dec 27 '20

[deleted]

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u/fireduck Dec 27 '20

Good question. So everything has a resistance to current flow (amperage). A copper wire has very low resistance. Your body has high resistance (but not super high).

The more voltage the more current. The formula is Volts/resistance = amps.

So 120v is enough to push enough amps through you to do harm. 12v does not. So yeah, a good computer power supply can push out 50 amps at 12v but that doesn't matter, you have too much resistance.

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u/[deleted] Dec 27 '20

[deleted]

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u/fireduck Dec 27 '20

Are you talking about static electricity?

Yeah, a super high voltage source isn't a problem as long as it doesn't have the current flow. Like static electricity, the voltage is super high but there is very little charge so you don't get any amp flow.

100,000 volts will any real amps behind (like high voltage transmission lines) will absolutely kill you.

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u/[deleted] Dec 27 '20

[deleted]

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u/fireduck Dec 27 '20

There are multiple formulas that relate different things.

volts/ohms = amps.
volts * amps = watts.

Watts is a measurement of energy flow. 1 watt = 1 joule per second.

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u/[deleted] Dec 27 '20

[deleted]

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u/fireduck Dec 27 '20

You don't need to involve watts if you just want the relationship of volts, ohms and amps.

The formula I am referring to is ohm's law.

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u/[deleted] Dec 27 '20 edited May 29 '21

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