Why are there cases where a person touches live wire, gets shocked, and quickly jumps out of it, whereas there are other cases where a person comes in contact with electricity and it ends up “holding” the person until he gets shocked to death. In other words, what determines whether a person gets an electric shock or electrocution?
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A strong enough current will cause your muscles to contract. If you are just brushing something with your fingertips, your fingers will contract away from the source. Touch or grip with your palm, your hand will clamp into a fist and you won’t be able to let go. Touch it with the back of your hand, and your arm muscles will contract so your hand jumps to your shoulder.
The other factor is whether the current is strong enough to travel through your body – watch electricians and you’ll notice that they put one hand behind their back – this stops that hand accidentally touching metal and forming a path that goes thru their heart. If there is no path, or the path goes down the body and leg to the ground, you are more likely to have a smaller, survivable shock.
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