I have not used a Van De Graaff generator..
But why can’t you die or even get shocked??
In: Earth Science
Electricity will always take the shortest route to get to the ground. So when you’re in range of the generator it will arc to you and out your feet to reach the ground easier than going through the air.
The reason you don’t get shocked (or at least not significantly shocked) is because amps and volts are very different. You can have high voltage and that sounds scary but it really won’t do harm. Amps are where it gets dangerous. And amps multiplied by volts gives you your wattage. I dont know a whole lot about amps and volts so I would recommend looking them up on your own.
So simply put, a van de Graff generator has a high voltage but low amperage.
Not sure how ELI5 this is but …
Ahh you CAN get shocked. If you mean why doesn’t someone running a demo of a big generator (google: boston museum of science van de graaff generator)
get shocked, he may be in a Faraday cage (looks a bit like a big bird cage). You can also build much smaller generators that only make your hair stand up a bit.
Like lots of things in life, it depends. How come you can hold a battery in your hand and not get a shock but “plugging yourself in” can kill you? The answer is related to the differential energy (volts) in the circuit, the current (amps) in the circuit, the type of current in the circuit (alternating vs direct currect) and the path through which the current flows.
Low current circuits, say much less than a milliamp, may not cause a shock. High current circuits at low voltage can’t “push” the current through your body. A small generator might generate a high voltage but much less than a milliamp of current. So no shock, just a lot of voltage trying to escape.
The amount of current available may (depending on construction) be related to the size of the metal sphere used. Large spheres that may act as capacitors and can hold enough to hurt or do damage.
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