There has been so much flooding recently, and Im just wondering about how if a house floods, or any other building floods, how are people even able to stand in that water and not be electrocuted?
Aren’t plugs and outlets and such covered in water and therefore making that a really big possibility?
In: 11434
So… because of how household electrical systems are designed… electricity wants to go to ‘the ground’. As in the floor. The dirt.
If you stick a fork in a socket, you happen to be standing /on/ the ground. The electricity passes THROUGH you. And that HURTS.
If you stick an extension cord (not touching it yourself though) in a big puddle of water, and then step in that big puddle on the other side… nothing happens to you. The electricity can pass from the cord to the ground (or back to the cord more likely, but that’s not the point). It doesn’t go through you.
Being near electricity isn’t an issue. Being in it’s path, is.
EDIT: Please do not test this. PLEASE do not stick an extension cord in a puddle. It is NOT safe because of other variables that I cannot foresee. For one, you’d have to touch the cord to get it into the puddle, thus potentially being wet+touching the cord, which violates my example case anyways.
Latest Answers