why do our muscles shake when electricity touches us but not when light touches us. If it isnt energy that makes our muscles shake what is it?
In: Physics
First of all, the light does not reach your muscles, it just reaches your skin. So it cannot have any direct effect on the muscles anyway.
But more importantly, muscles cannot just convert any sort of energy into movement, just like a diesel engine can only use diesel and not steam or wind or electricity. The energy source for muscles is a specific chemical “fuel” in your body called ATP, muscles can only use that and nothing else.
However, while the ATP is the energy source, your brain has to control the muscles somehow, and it does that – simplifying here – by sending electric impulses along your nerves. If you touch an electric cable, the electricity will cause havoc with this communications system – your muscles believe that they’re given random, frantic orders, and act accordingly.
So, in short – muscle spasm don’t happen because of too much energy, but because they recieve random orders.
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