Editing Tesla coil (section)

===Skin-effect myth===
An erroneous explanation for the absence of electric shock that has persisted among Tesla coil hobbyists is that the high-frequency currents travel through the body close to the surface, and thus do not penetrate to vital organs or nerves, due to an electromagnetic phenomenon called ''[[skin effect]]''.<ref name="Tilbury2"/><ref name=Sprott/><ref name=Robberson/><ref name=Sarwate/>

This theory is false.<ref name="Saberton2"/><ref name="Beatty"/><ref name="Strong1"/><ref name="Kluge"/><ref name="WFCooper"/><ref name="Barnes"/> RF current does tend to flow on the surface of conductors due to skin effect, but the depth to which it penetrates, called ''[[skin depth]]'', depends on the [[resistivity]] and [[permeability (electromagnetism)|permeability]] of the material as well as the [[frequency]].<ref name="Elder1"/><ref name="Saslow"/> Although skin effect limits currents of Tesla coil frequencies to the outer fraction of a millimeter in metal conductors, the skin depth of the current in body tissue is much deeper due to its higher resistivity. The depth of penetration of currents of Tesla frequency (0.1&nbsp;– 1&nbsp;MHz) in human tissues is roughly 24–72&nbsp;centimeters (9–28&nbsp;inches).<ref name="Saslow"/><ref name="Elder1"/><ref name="Kluge"/> Since even the deepest tissues are closer than this to the surface, skin effect has little influence on the path of the current through the body;<ref name="Barnes"/> it tends to take the path of minimum [[electrical impedance]] to ground, and can easily pass through the core of the body.<ref name="Christie"/><ref name="Kluge"/><ref name="Saslow"/> In the medical therapy called longwave [[diathermy]], carefully controlled RF current of Tesla frequencies was used for decades for deep tissue warming, including heating internal organs such as the lungs.<ref name="Christie"/><ref name="Kovács2"/> Modern shortwave diathermy machines use a higher frequency of 27&nbsp;MHz, which would have a correspondingly smaller skin depth, yet these frequencies are still able to penetrate deep body tissues.<ref name="Beatty"/>