Hopefully we’ll get some expert posts on this because it’s simply not as cut and dried as it sounds.

As I understand it, it’s the current that can injure or kill you, and not the number of volts, meaning that you can work around kilo-volt circuits if the current has been limited to safe levels.

Low voltages carrying high current can be very dangerous and you can
even get a nasty injury from a 5 V power supply if you happen to
put your hand near an arc from an accidental short circuit of several
amps.

In most cases, the amount of current that flows through a person’s body is limited by only the resistance of the body and its connection to it; meaning the contact resistance at the skin, which is usually the case when people get a shock via 110 V and 240 V wiring.

In those situations, what determines whether or not a meaningful shock might be received is the voltage difference between those two points of contact.

What’s more, additional current will likely cause your hand muscles to grasp a live wire tighter which is why higher voltages are more dangerous in accidental contact situations.

I’ve had a whack from 240v and 440v, the 240v threw me across the room, the 440v just knocked me over.

As Peterson says and knofman implies, it is the current that proves fatal, not the voltage.

The higher the voltage the bigger the gap which can be jumped by the “spark” (ionization of the air).

People have been killed by milliamps (1000th of an ampere).

The bodies muscles are triggered/powered by electrical current/impulses and if an external electrical source were to interfere, in phase with this process, it would not do the old heart any good at all

M

I lived in Brazil for around a year and they have 110v and 220v in the same house with the same size plugs!

Real easy to blow things to pieces that you bought in the States.

It rained every day at the same time and the vendors at the outside markets had wires from high up connected to their stands and the rain used to run down them in torrents … and huge mangoes used to crash down onto cars (and people I guess if it wasn’t their day) too I guess.

I am a Year 10 High (secondary, as you americans say) School, and our Machine Science teacher makes a point that you could have a theoretically infinite voltage running through you, but to feel a shock at all, it must be at least 32 volts, and to be fatal, it must be 5 OR MORE milliamps (5mA (5mI)). Voltage only disperses energy, in the form of pain.

There is a significant difference.

To do the same amount of work, a 110 volt electric motor will require twice the amperage as what a 220 volt electric motor will.

Power(watts)=voltsXamps
which means: if you double the number of volts, the number of amps required will be half.

This makes 220 volts good for the pocket book when paying the electric bill.

Another example of the difference between 110 & 220.

For years I ran my 3 1/2 HP compressor on 110. When temps got down to 25 F., it was hard to start until comp warmed itself up.

After I got my shop built, I converted the comp motor taps to 220 and now it will start right up at -20 F.

I thought this would give you a real life example of the difference between the two voltages as to how much extra work 220 will do.

You are more likely to be killed if you remain in contact.
110v is more dangerous because it makes muscle tissue ‘grab’ even if you want to let go. But a 220v shock has the opposite effect, it will throw you away across the room. Domestic statistics from the US and EU have confirmed this.