[mikevp]

Heh... Recalling a demonstration by an EE prof way back when. He had the bank of capacitors charging up on his desk, and was writing on the blackboard the equations of how much energy was stored. Hand raised in the back of the room. "Uh, Dr. Miagawa, I think you slipped a decimal point there." Prof looks over his work again, says "Oh, dear" unplugs the charger and backs away. He tapes two meter sticks together with a screwdriver on the end to discharge his little electrobomb. WHAMO, screwdriver vaporizes.

I'm pretty much convinced this was not a mistake, it was a "Be really CAREFUL with this stuff!" object lesson.