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Post by ironhold on May 7, 2015 3:10:40 GMT
"Educating Doc." Noble Causes: Extended Family #2, June 2004, Image Comics
Doc Noble is being asked to recount the incident that caused him to go from being an amateur detective to a full-fledged crime-fighter.
According to the story, Doc was in a convenience store when a brute of a criminal burst in while being chased by the police. Doc chose to intervene, and in the process a pot of coffee is thrown into the air before falling on the ground; as such, the coffee itself leaves a trail. One end of the trail runs by a piece of unknown damaged equipment that is shooting off electrical sparks (if I had to guess, I'd say it was likely the coffee machine, a food warmer, or something else like what you'd see in a convenience store). The criminal steps on the other end with his bare foot.
The coffee works to channel the electrical current, delivering enough of a jolt that the criminal winds up disabled. This gives Doc the upper hand, and allows him to secure the criminal while the police finish evacuating the civilians.
So - could coffee serve as an electrical conductor?
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Post by GTCGreg on May 7, 2015 4:02:26 GMT
Coffee is about as conductive as water. So yes, if someone stepped into a puddle of electrified coffee in their bare feet, and some other part of their body was grounded, they could receive an electrical shock. But why was the piece of whatever equipment shooting out sparks and way was the brute of a criminal in his bare feet?
I guess seeing something like that would cause just about anyone to go from an amateur detective to super sleuth. Well, at least in the comics it would.
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Post by ironhold on May 7, 2015 4:40:02 GMT
The unknown equipment is wrecked, likely the result of having been knocked over during the struggle. If it was still plugged into the outlet, then it could well have been drawing power in spite of the casing being shattered and whatever else internally was damaged.
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Post by silverdragon on May 7, 2015 8:17:58 GMT
I would say that this mimics the test teams own attempts to "pee on an electric fence", or pee on a live train power rail.
I say no it wont be any different that what the team found... unless its a perfect stream, there is no conductivity.
Perfect stream would be a perfect storm chance...
One in a bazillion?...
So just as liable to happen the first time you try as the last then.
If the equipment is on a table, and the perfect stream lands on the floor, and maybe the table is wet, maybe it has metal legs, maybe you might just get a good trail from outlet to puddle.
But again, perfect storm chances apply.
Good idea for testing though.....
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Post by the light works on May 7, 2015 9:40:09 GMT
more like toaster in the bathtub. assume the coffee machine is the damaged piece of equipment. it would have to be a perfect storm of circumstances for the guy to get shocked. I'm talking coffee maker (assuming that is the sparking equipment) broken with the hot lead in contact with the coffee, neutral and ground not in contact, GFCI absent or malfunctioning, one foot in the coffee and the other on a metal drain, and mighty salty coffee.
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Post by GTCGreg on May 7, 2015 14:38:45 GMT
more like toaster in the bathtub. assume the coffee machine is the damaged piece of equipment. it would have to be a perfect storm of circumstances for the guy to get shocked. I'm talking coffee maker (assuming that is the sparking equipment) broken with the hot lead in contact with the coffee, neutral and ground not in contact, GFCI absent or malfunctioning, one foot in the coffee and the other on a metal drain, and mighty salty coffee. Still doesn't explain how any of this turns your average amateur detective into Super Sleuth who's weapon of choice is a broken coffee maker. |
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Post by the light works on May 7, 2015 15:05:02 GMT
more like toaster in the bathtub. assume the coffee machine is the damaged piece of equipment. it would have to be a perfect storm of circumstances for the guy to get shocked. I'm talking coffee maker (assuming that is the sparking equipment) broken with the hot lead in contact with the coffee, neutral and ground not in contact, GFCI absent or malfunctioning, one foot in the coffee and the other on a metal drain, and mighty salty coffee. Still doesn't explain how any of this turns your average amateur detective into Super Sleuth who's weapon of choice is a broken coffee maker. maybe he was bitten by a radioactive electric eel. |
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Post by ironhold on May 7, 2015 15:42:40 GMT
He's one of those "Golden Age adventurer" types from what I understand, the kind who are somehow super-smart and super-athletic.
Supposedly, this was the bit that said "You might want to use your stuff for the betterment of humanity since you're so good at it."
Also, the bit of damaged equipment was on the ground, apparently having been knocked over.
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Post by Cybermortis on May 7, 2015 23:20:35 GMT
Water is, as MB have shown, not really conductive on its own. It is the substances that are dissolved in it, such as salt, that conduct electricity. From what I can tell with a brief search it appears that coffee is slightly acidic, which would mean it could be an electrical conductor.
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Post by the light works on May 8, 2015 5:22:46 GMT
Water is, as MB have shown, not really conductive on its own. It is the substances that are dissolved in it, such as salt, that conduct electricity. From what I can tell with a brief search it appears that coffee is slightly acidic, which would mean it could be an electrical conductor. hmmm marginally off topic, but coffee battery? |
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Post by Cybermortis on May 8, 2015 11:39:20 GMT
In theory I'd imagine you could make a battery using coffee. In practice you'd probably need a battery the size of a desk to provide enough current to power a calculator. Consider the size of a car battery, which uses acid considerably stronger than any coffee.
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