I understand why you get harmed if you’re grounded, you’re becoming part of the wire and the electricity is going from you to the earth. what I dont understand is, why the electricity doesnt harm you when youre not touching the ground, isnt it going through you either way? how does it not affect your body?
In: Physics
I think most people are not getting your question right.
Yes, when you touch a live wire, you are becoming part of the wire. Hence electricity will flow through your body. If you touch a live wire with your left hand touching one point and right hand touching another point few inches apart, then electricity will enter your body through one hand, travel through your body to the wire through your other hand.
So, to answer your question, yes, some current will always flow through your body.
Now, why doesn’t it harms you? It will harm you (or even fry you) if the amount of current in the wire is sufficiently large.
Let’s say, the live wire is carrying 40,000 Ampere of current, then touching it (without being grounded) will BBQ you. But the wire that carry current to your refrigerator is carrying anywhere from just 2 Amperes to 8 Amperes of current. Distribution line from your local transformer that powers the neighborhood is carrying around 100 Amperes to 1000 Amperes current.
Other commenters saying “Electricity takes least path of resistance” is too much ELIF5 that it would fail to answer your question.
The real answer is “Electricity will take ALL AVAILABLE PATHS. BUT MOST OF IT WILL TAKE THE EASIEST (least resistance) ROUTE”. So, since your body has a resistance much higher than a copper/aluminum wire, only a small portion of electricity will take their path through your body, while the majority will take the easy route through the wire.
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