Shocked! By Electricity

Hopefully the extent of most people’s electrical shock history is sticking their tongue on a 9v battery.  However, those of us working in the electrical industry and those of you brave enough to do your own electrical repairs may have felt an electrical shock or two.  Electrical shock can cause severe injuries and even death.  


With the power of electricity in mind, our judicial system has utilized electricity in a couple of different ways, including the electric chair and tasers.



The electric chair was once the primary way of executing inmates.  However, lethal injection has since taken over as the most commonly used method.  The electric chair was invented in 1888 by Alfred P. Southwick.  The idea came to him after watching a drunken man instantly die after touching a live electrical generator.

The electric chair works by forcing various cycles of alternating current through the body.  Initially it induces unconsciousness and brain death, and then it fatally damages the organs. When a criminal was executed, electrodes would be attached to their spine, leg, and head and a wet sponge would be attached to their head and leg to increase conductivity. An initial 15 or 20 second surge of over 2,000 volts was sent through, followed by lower voltage for over a minute.  While ballyhooed as a humane manner of capital punishment, the electric chair has not always been completely successful.  There are a plethora of stories in regards to criminals who bled, caught fire, or convulsed before finally being pronounced dead.



The taser is an electroshock weapon; the main goal of which is to cause neuromuscular incapacitation, which is to essentially cause temporary paralysis by sending intense signals to the nervous system. The incapacitation from a taser is not based on pain, so it cannot be overcome even by someone with an incredible pain tolerance. The immediate effects of being tased disappear as soon as the pulse ends (although athletic-type muscle damage and confusion can remain).

A taser contains two barbed charge electrodes attached to long conductive wires, which are in turn attached to the gun’s electrical circuit, typically power driven by AA batteries. Pulling the trigger breaks open a compressed gas cartridge, and the pressure shoots the electrodes up to 20 feet.  The damage caused from an electric shock is the result of the amount of current (amperage) being forced through the body (as well as the duration and power source) rather than the voltage. The taser uses about 50,000 volts which guarantees that the pulse will reach the anticipated mark and will temporarily cause a sizeable amount of pain, but with no lasting effects as a taser only generates a few milliamps of current.

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