Why is it safe to touch the electricity-outputting end of our phone and computer chargers with no sort of electric shock on us as opposed to other dangerous electrical outputs?

Question

Exactly as stated in the title. All my life I’ve been able to touch my phone or computer’s electrical charger output (accidentally or for whatever the reason) with no sort of “buzz” or feeling from the electricity going through the output. At least that has always been my experience with it.

Just in case: Don’t intentionally try this of course.

In: 64

Answer 1

Because chargers have a transformer that lowers the voltage from the full voltage of the main circuit in the wall. That’s what’s in the little block that you plug in. Even if you were able to touch + and – contacts, that would put 5 Volts across your skin for a phone charger or ~20 Volts for a laptop charger. For comparison, the wall circuit is 120V in North America and 220V in Europe. Charging a phone or computer with that much direct power would fry all the tiny components, so the chargers have a transformer that reduces the voltage.