• @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    174
    edit-2
    1 month ago

    Electricity does not take the path of least resistance. It takes every path available, inversely proportional to that paths resistance.

    When the voltage gets high enough, it will literally start ripping molecules apart in order to make its own path.

    Also, nice meme, nerd.

      • lad
        link
        English
        481 month ago

        That’s just a new game plus for electricity

          • lad
            link
            English
            81 month ago

            I’m not an electrician enough to say, but if I remember it right, AC + high voltage is what Tesla generators use to generate all that fancy air zaps. That’s more high frequency than the consumer grade AC, and high frequency makes it somewhat safe for living things because electricity doesn’t flow deep into the body in that case.

            • @[email protected]
              link
              fedilink
              31 month ago

              Yep! Once you start getting into waves & fields all bets are off. High frequency electromagnetic radiation gets more and more wild if you back it up with enough power

              Could be as safe as a radio transmission or as deadly as a submarine’s sonar pulse. All depends on the frequency and the power behind it (and where you direct it)

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    761 month ago

    High voltage be like: “Fuck you. I’m gonna make my own wire, with blackjack and hookers (and ionization)!”

    • flicker
      link
      fedilink
      81 month ago

      Thank you for sharing this. I was enthralled from start to finish.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      41 month ago

      Sometimes it happens even below the arc breakdown voltage via air… Air molecules are slightly less dense along the surface of a smooth flat surface due to molecular ‘bounce’, so electrons creep along the lower density of a surface.

      Hence, creepage on a PCB.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    28
    edit-2
    1 month ago

    High frequency signals be like: conductors? Where we are going we don’t need conductors!

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        7
        edit-2
        1 month ago

        True that. I was amazed how many hundreds of amps I could dump into an aluminum foil antenna at high frequency.

        Just aluminum foil around PVC is practically as good as solid aluminum pipe.

    • flicker
      link
      fedilink
      101 month ago

      So… something weird happened with my phone, and I thought I clicked a link for electricity solving a maze and got this instead and it was… a uniquely confusing experience.

      But also weirdly nostalgic for back when confusing things happened on the internet all the time so… thanks?

      • Pleb
        link
        fedilink
        51 month ago

        You are welcome. We all need some more of that old internet.

      • Pleb
        link
        fedilink
        41 month ago

        I don’t know.

        Do you know the music video to the song where he wants to go to the gay bar with you? :D

  • Draconic NEO
    link
    fedilink
    111 month ago

    Silicon isn’t a conductor, it’s a semiconductor. Also conductivity is dependent on temperature, hot stuff usually conducts easier, though some things conduct easier when they are colder. Even at the low voltage it’s more complicated than “Conductors” and “Insulators” we learn in those ultra basic electronics guides online (or in school if you’re lucky).

      • Draconic NEO
        link
        fedilink
        11 month ago

        Except superconductors often conduct better when they are cold (unfortunately, would be nice if a room temperature one was found but probably isn’t going to happen).

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    101 month ago

    Thank you for this powerful visual. I’ve always had trouble understanding electrical concepts, but this is beginning to open my eyes now.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    4
    edit-2
    1 month ago

    If electricity is a highway, current is the number of cars at any given time, voltage is how fast they are going, and high voltage are the driving sequences from The Transporter / Fast & Furious movies.