Can you die from testing a 9V battery on your tongue?

***wraggster*** · July 28th, 2006, 15:07

First the simple question: Can you die from testing a 9V battery on your tongue? I have read newspaper reports (around 1990) of a woman dying after her boyfriend used a 9V battery as sexual stimulation.
A brief look on the internet brings up a number of comments.

Apparently there was a US sailor being trained as an electrician who killed himself by sticking the probes of an Ohmmeter through his skin to measure his internal resistance.
There are also claims of eight people a year dying in Australia (why just Australia?) from testing batteries.
Now, the explanation I have heard as to why this is, is that in certain freak cases, the battery can make an almost direct connection to the nervous system where the nerves are close to the surface and the skin is wet, thus ionising the nerves so that they will not work correctly. Result is death.

The detractors who attempt to answer this question invariably end up quoting figures for levels of current which kill then stating that a batter cannot generate these levels of current. This basically just dodges the issue since we have a fairly specific set of circumstances and it is not claimed that the current actually kills, rather the effect of a DC potential connected directly to the nervous system.

Besides, the figures quoted are guidelines for safety and not intended to be an absolute guarantee of safety. It is also my understanding, having spoken to a number of older electrical engineers, that there were different figures quoted for lethality for DC voltages and AC voltages, with the level of DC being significantly lower than for AC. Hope you can find some information on this issue! Thank you very much for your time!

Dr Xheng Hu of the School of Electrical and Information Engineering at the University of Sydney confirms that a 9V battery does not have enough voltage to kill a person by testing it on the tongue.

He adds: "It cannot be entirely excluded however. If a person is very ill, for example, has heart problems, or has a heart pacemaker that could be disrupted, and so on, they could possibly die from testing the battery in this way. But normally it wouldn't happen."

**NoQuarter** · August 5th, 2006, 03:23

Looks like I'm going to have to quit my 9-volt battery testing job.Tongue was getting a little sore anyway

**PyRoUK** · August 5th, 2006, 13:49

Without freak circumstances, like as said, pacemakers, dieing out of shock (scared shock, not electrical) you cannot be killed by a 9V battery.

The current from those things (forget the voltage, that makes absolutely no difference) is not high enough. Leave it on your tongue for a few days and maybe it will eventually heat up your tongue, dry it out, set alight to it and and then you'd burn to death.

But as for nerves, you cannot be killed by a 9V, low ampage shock. Stun-guns use thousands of Volts and the current is slightly higher than yo'd find in a battery. Stun guns are designed to target the nervous system, but they've only had a few fatalities through pacemaker faliure etc.

When I had braces, I put a 9V battery accross them. Felt a bolt of pure pain rush around my jaw, but it didn't kill me.

Bottom line is, if you're under 5, over 70, or have any man-made electrical control devices in your body, let someone else do it for you

**Shadowblind** · August 5th, 2006, 13:49

Lets call Mythbusters.

**Video_freak** · August 5th, 2006, 13:54

Originally Posted by wraggster

a woman dying after her boyfriend used a 9V battery as sexual stimulation.

people are getting creative these days....

**VampDude** · September 24th, 2006, 04:34

lol, one time I got one of my grans dogs to put their tounge on a battery....
....funny, but cruel! lmao

**Nafogel** · September 24th, 2006, 04:43

i tried it once but i didnt feel a thing, am i a freak or something? I think the battery was about dead though, so maybe that was it. btw, this is a pretty random topic, lol

**VampDude** · September 24th, 2006, 04:46

Originally Posted by Nafogel

i tried it once but i didnt feel a thing, am i a freak or something? I think the battery was about dead though, so maybe that was it. btw, this is a pretty random topic, lol

try a fresh battery, usually does the trick! lmao

**Nafogel** · September 24th, 2006, 04:53

Originally Posted by VampDude

try a fresh battery, usually does the trick! lmao

yeah, that was quite a while back, when i was like 8 or 9, and i have braces now so i am not putting anything electrical anywhere near my mouth. unless i was johnny knoxville and i was getting paid to act stupid. any body see jackass 2 yet? i saw it today and its awesome!