eli5 Why is touching a live wire dangerous? Doesn’t electricity take the path of least resistance? Wouldn’t your hand be a much worse conductor than a copper wire?
In: Engineering
Electricity always takes all available paths. If you have a microwave, a toaster, and a lamp plugged in side by side they will all turn on.
Now, you probably aren’t a *super* appealing path for electricity. If the electricity can choose between going through you, or going through a wire, it will mostly choose the wire. If the electricity must choose between you and a refrigerator, well, you’ll end up getting a larger dose. It doesn’t actually take that much electricity to kill you, compared to the energy draw from a regular household appliance.
Latest Answers