Saw a 1930s poster warning about the dangers of electrocution and it had a red line (most probably the electricity) going from source to victim to ground. Why is that?
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Electrons have a “negative” electric charge and they want to flow to a place with an excess of positive charges, such as the ground. To do so, it will follow a path of least resistance. Air is generally an extremely good insulator and normally there need to be a build up of an enormous amount of charge before the electrons can pass through the air. This is what lightning bolts are. In comparison, the human body is an extremely good conductors. The nervous system uses electrical signals to transmit impulses from the nerve endings to the brain, so we are literally full of easy paths for the electric to follow.
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