Re. the electrocuted musicians: I just wanted to mention that you didn’t touch on relative voltages: the three dead musicians you mentioned were all British - IMO that’s for a reason, because we use 240v, and therefore are able to get more power through our systems if we touch a live circuit. In 110v-land it’s a bit safer. I’ve received mains shocks in Singapore (240v) and the US (110v) and I can assure you that the 110v one is preferable. Therefore it’s slightly safer in the US. Though your advice on not removing the earth pin is, of course, totally correct.
More or les, yes. You’d still need some sort of current-limiting, but if yous tring a couple dozen 9 V batteries together you could run a bulb off them directly.
Jjimm, I’ve gotten shocks of up to 20 or 30 kV from the inside of a TV set. Much fun, let me tell you.
Was the TV set plugged in? Or was it capacitor discharge? The shock I got in Singapore blew a 30A tripswitch… It hurt rather a lot, not to mention throwing me across the room, leaving my mind bathed in pure white light, and me drooling on the floor having spasms. I’m a bit surprised I’m still here, to be honest.
Most residential dwellings in the US have a center-tapped 240 V feed from the electrical service grid. This gives two 120 V circuits for normal household use, plus 240 V that some appliances, such as electric ranges, air conditioners, and clothes dryers require.
US industry often uses 480 V three-phase power. To state that a particular country uses X volts is simplistic and somewhat misleading.