# What's more deadly? Watts, volts, or amps? [closed]

This is a question I've wondered for years but not one person has been able to give me a short and sweet answer; from least deadly to most deadly, what's more deadly? Watts, volts, or amps? And what are the differences between each in terms of electrical power?

## closed as unclear what you're asking by Andy aka, Marcus Müller, brhans, duskwuff, Olin LathropApr 21 '17 at 19:56

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• All are deadly in their own way, especially to a transistor. In terms of power, the only quantity you specify that is power is watts. Do you really understand your own question? – Andy aka Apr 21 '17 at 18:32
• The heart reacts to flowing current. It doesn't matter which voltage was needed to let that current flow, neither which power is dissipated. It's just that a certain current from outside will make the heart fall out of its own electricity-driven regulation mechanism. – Janka Apr 21 '17 at 18:34
• Its the current that kills. It takes voltage to push current through your body. A higher voltage pushes a higher current. Wattage is volts multiplied by amps. You can't separate it out and say one of the three is more dangerous. Which is more deadly - the fall from a great height or the sudden stop when you hit the ground? That's what you have asked about electricity. – JRE Apr 21 '17 at 18:36
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_shock its how much current passes through your body, which is dependent on the source voltage and power rating. – Elbehery Apr 21 '17 at 18:48
• @JRE "What's more deadly? Speed, acceleration, or force?" – duskwuff Apr 21 '17 at 19:32

Arguably... ALL OF THE ABOVE.

Other than being burned to death, what usually kills you with electricity is current passing through your heart.

A little bit of current will not kill you but if there is enough it will.

Your skin and body have a resistance, so if the voltage is not high enough there will not be enough current to do any damage.

This is all governed by the Ohm's Law equation.

$V=IR$, of transposed for current $I = V/R$

Where $I$ is the current, $V$ is the voltage, and $R$ is your body's resistance.

As you can see they are intimately tied together by that simple piece of math.

So you need enough current, and for that you need enough voltage...

Power is also a simple equation...

$P = IV$ where $P$ = power

Which in turn means, you need enough power.

Those two equations are fundamental. You literally can not separate one from another.

It is "electricity" that kills you, which encompasses all of them.