Hi, made a standard one plate capacitive sensor and i noticed some big increase in capacitance if the user happens to touch a non insulated part of plate. I was actually wondering how much current is expected to run trough the body this way and if it can have adverse effects... Also, from a more theoretical point of view how does the body behave? It can be regarded as a series of a capacitance (plate-body) and a parallel of a capacitance (body-ground) and a resistance?
You are asking questions about current with no reference to Ohm's Law (V=I*R=> I=V/R)
With NO RESISTANCE
NO VOLTAGE
How are we supposed to comment on CURRENT ?
It depends on the circuit, voltage and isolation. Your power supply must be isolated from the mains, it can be powered by the mains but no direct connection. If it is isolated and only has a few volts it will be OK. How does the body behave? Yes. You might research the CE and UL standards for isolation requirements.
Well, you found out how capacitive sensors work.
Now for the current that could flow: have a good look at your circuit. That's where you can tell how much current can run to charge up the human + plate capacitance.
Can you feel anything?
Then the current is low enough to not be harmful.
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