Google tried to explain Coulomb’s Law to me and I don’t understand.
In: 2
This is a 2-part answer. First, electric fields encourage the movement of electrons or charged particles through materials where electrons can easily move. But your body is a poor electrical conductor and it’s not shaped to be an especially good “antenna” so instead of getting the type of organized movement of electrons you might see in an *actual antenna* that can effectively receive a radio signal, most electrical fields will just jiggle molecules in your body around which results in heat – not electrocution, because there is no major flow of electrons in any one direction.
The second part of the answer is that electric fields are really weak compared to *actual electrons moving through a wire*. A sufficiently strong electrical field can hurt you. That’s what a microwave is – it can heat up food quickly and if you were inside one, it would heat you up quickly causing burns and possible death. But none of the other electrical fields we deal with like wifi or the ones generated by the wires in your house and anywhere CLOSE to the power of a microwave, they are hundreds of thousands of times weaker.
This is a 2-part answer. First, electric fields encourage the movement of electrons or charged particles through materials where electrons can easily move. But your body is a poor electrical conductor and it’s not shaped to be an especially good “antenna” so instead of getting the type of organized movement of electrons you might see in an *actual antenna* that can effectively receive a radio signal, most electrical fields will just jiggle molecules in your body around which results in heat – not electrocution, because there is no major flow of electrons in any one direction.
The second part of the answer is that electric fields are really weak compared to *actual electrons moving through a wire*. A sufficiently strong electrical field can hurt you. That’s what a microwave is – it can heat up food quickly and if you were inside one, it would heat you up quickly causing burns and possible death. But none of the other electrical fields we deal with like wifi or the ones generated by the wires in your house and anywhere CLOSE to the power of a microwave, they are hundreds of thousands of times weaker.
What “comes out of the wall socket” is a flow of electrons, that flow creates an electric field. So your question assumes something that isn’t true – that is, there’s no difference between what comes out of a wall socket and an electric field. An electric field is what comes out of the wall socket.
Living things are affected by electric fields in one of two ways (please correct me if there is more), either by the field interfering with electric fields within that living thing (IE. the fields that are generated as part of a human heart beat) or through the heat they generate by causing other electrons or charged particles to move.
Being electrocuted generally refers to the former (electric field affects the fields of the body, which can cause muscle contraction or heart arrhythmia), but any electrician who works on high voltage lines can tell that heat is absolutely just as dangerous (if not more so) and a powerful arc flash can get over 20,000 degrees C (hot enough to turn your skin into a gas faster than you can blink).
The strength of an electric field is inversely proportional to the square of the distance, so the field strength gets weak very quickly the further away you are. Standard construction practices keep you far enough away from electric fields, and insulate those fields, such that they can’t have any negative effect we would refer to as electrocution.
This is a 2-part answer. First, electric fields encourage the movement of electrons or charged particles through materials where electrons can easily move. But your body is a poor electrical conductor and it’s not shaped to be an especially good “antenna” so instead of getting the type of organized movement of electrons you might see in an *actual antenna* that can effectively receive a radio signal, most electrical fields will just jiggle molecules in your body around which results in heat – not electrocution, because there is no major flow of electrons in any one direction.
The second part of the answer is that electric fields are really weak compared to *actual electrons moving through a wire*. A sufficiently strong electrical field can hurt you. That’s what a microwave is – it can heat up food quickly and if you were inside one, it would heat you up quickly causing burns and possible death. But none of the other electrical fields we deal with like wifi or the ones generated by the wires in your house and anywhere CLOSE to the power of a microwave, they are hundreds of thousands of times weaker.
Electric fields are similar to magnetic fields. They spread out from electric charge, like electrons and protons. Anything with a voltage generates an electric field.
A wall outlet provides a supply of electrons with some “pressure” resulting from them having been pushed on by an electric field. These electrons themselves have an electric field, and if they flow into electronics then those electronics also have a field.
When an electron moves in a field, it either releases energy (as it moves away from other electrons) or gains energy (as it moves towards them).
If the field isn’t strong enough, your electrons will not move and so you will not be shocked. If new electrons do not enter your body then the field probably won’t become strong enough.
Electric fields are similar to magnetic fields. They spread out from electric charge, like electrons and protons. Anything with a voltage generates an electric field.
A wall outlet provides a supply of electrons with some “pressure” resulting from them having been pushed on by an electric field. These electrons themselves have an electric field, and if they flow into electronics then those electronics also have a field.
When an electron moves in a field, it either releases energy (as it moves away from other electrons) or gains energy (as it moves towards them).
If the field isn’t strong enough, your electrons will not move and so you will not be shocked. If new electrons do not enter your body then the field probably won’t become strong enough.
An electric field is a potential field, just like gravity (we’ll ignore Einstein here and stick to Newton). One major difference between them is a gravity field is generated by and affects particles with mass, and an electric field is generated by and affects particles that have a charge.
The voltage (a measure of the “strength” of an electric field) is analogous to the height of the cliff. If you are standing on the edge of the cliff then you have a lot of potential to gain a lot of kinetic energy if you fall over. If you’re not there, or you decide to not go over the cliff, then that potential is just potential and nothing happens. Voltage is the same thing. If a charge isn’t present or can’t move, then the potential for something to happen is there, but nothing does.
Electrocution implies the movement of charges. This would be like you standing under the cliff. You are perfectly safe as long as nothing is on the cliff or decides to go over the edge. If a herd of cows jumps over the cliff they’ll land on you and gravitocute you!
The outlets is like a cow source (electrons in cow costumes?). It has a bunch of cows ready to jump and fall on top of you. You stick a fork in the outlet then you prod those cows to jump out and run fall on you (electrocuting yourself).
What “comes out of the wall socket” is a flow of electrons, that flow creates an electric field. So your question assumes something that isn’t true – that is, there’s no difference between what comes out of a wall socket and an electric field. An electric field is what comes out of the wall socket.
Living things are affected by electric fields in one of two ways (please correct me if there is more), either by the field interfering with electric fields within that living thing (IE. the fields that are generated as part of a human heart beat) or through the heat they generate by causing other electrons or charged particles to move.
Being electrocuted generally refers to the former (electric field affects the fields of the body, which can cause muscle contraction or heart arrhythmia), but any electrician who works on high voltage lines can tell that heat is absolutely just as dangerous (if not more so) and a powerful arc flash can get over 20,000 degrees C (hot enough to turn your skin into a gas faster than you can blink).
The strength of an electric field is inversely proportional to the square of the distance, so the field strength gets weak very quickly the further away you are. Standard construction practices keep you far enough away from electric fields, and insulate those fields, such that they can’t have any negative effect we would refer to as electrocution.
Electric fields are similar to magnetic fields. They spread out from electric charge, like electrons and protons. Anything with a voltage generates an electric field.
A wall outlet provides a supply of electrons with some “pressure” resulting from them having been pushed on by an electric field. These electrons themselves have an electric field, and if they flow into electronics then those electronics also have a field.
When an electron moves in a field, it either releases energy (as it moves away from other electrons) or gains energy (as it moves towards them).
If the field isn’t strong enough, your electrons will not move and so you will not be shocked. If new electrons do not enter your body then the field probably won’t become strong enough.
What “comes out of the wall socket” is a flow of electrons, that flow creates an electric field. So your question assumes something that isn’t true – that is, there’s no difference between what comes out of a wall socket and an electric field. An electric field is what comes out of the wall socket.
Living things are affected by electric fields in one of two ways (please correct me if there is more), either by the field interfering with electric fields within that living thing (IE. the fields that are generated as part of a human heart beat) or through the heat they generate by causing other electrons or charged particles to move.
Being electrocuted generally refers to the former (electric field affects the fields of the body, which can cause muscle contraction or heart arrhythmia), but any electrician who works on high voltage lines can tell that heat is absolutely just as dangerous (if not more so) and a powerful arc flash can get over 20,000 degrees C (hot enough to turn your skin into a gas faster than you can blink).
The strength of an electric field is inversely proportional to the square of the distance, so the field strength gets weak very quickly the further away you are. Standard construction practices keep you far enough away from electric fields, and insulate those fields, such that they can’t have any negative effect we would refer to as electrocution.
Latest Answers