If a device slips in water, it is very likely to break. However, if it is connected to the power grid, it can be fatal to humans.
The idea is fascinating. Watch a movie while sitting in hot water or talk to your girlfriend on the phone. All kinds of shelves and holders are now available to place a tablet or cell phone on top of a bathtub as comfortably as possible. But what if it falls into the water? Is it as dangerous as using a hair dryer?
“If the device is not connected to the power grid, the voltage is usually so low that people don’t feel anything,” says Katrin Friedl from the Institute for Electrical Systems and Networks at TU Graz. Relates to measures, among other things, protects people from electric current. Battery-operated devices degrade in water if they are not well protected against it. “That’s the worst part,” Friedl says with a smile. At about five volts, the USB voltage is lower than that of the battery – you can touch these without even feeling it. If you touch a nine-volt block battery with your tongue, you just feel a (harmless) tingling.
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