water and electricity don't mix?

[danielsmusic]

this is a silly one realy, but if i put 2 mains wires into a bowl of water and put my finger in the bowl im not going to get electricuted am i? unless im grounded of course.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

this is a silly one realy, but if i put 2 mains wires into a bowl of water and put my finger in the bowl im not going to get electricuted am i? unless im grounded of course.

You might! - it would be an EXTREMELY stupid thing to do!.

As your thread title says, "electricity and water don't mix" - always keep them away from each other.

 

[Jay.slovak]

this is a silly one realy, but if i put 2 mains wires into a bowl of water and put my finger in the bowl im not going to get electricuted am i? unless im grounded of course.

Sounds like a stupid way how to die. :?

 

[zachtheterrible]

Daniel, I've always wondered that!

How could you get severely shocked if you're not grounded? IF any electricity goes through you, it would only go through your finger and nothing else.

I suppose one way of finding out would be to do that, but stick a voltmeter's leads close together (the width of your finger) in that bowl of water and see how much voltage you get.

 

[mstechca]

How could you get severely shocked if you're not grounded? IF any electricity goes through you, it would only go through your finger and nothing else.

Mains voltage is AC voltage. you could end up being an antenna if you touch HV directly.

and it goes through more than just your finger. How about all of your skin.

if i put 2 mains wires into a bowl of water and put my finger in the bowl im not going to get electricuted am i? unless im grounded of course.

I doubt your brain will function after you find out the answer for yourself.

but take our advice: DONT PLAY WITH HIGH VOLTAGE!!!


and do water and electricity mix?
answer is yes and no.

Yes water and electricity mix in terms of conductivity (water conducts electricity), and no because electricity is not a drink :lol:

 

[zachtheterrible]

An antenna?? :?

Think about it though, the electricity does not have anywhere to go through you (assuming you're not grounded). The electricity is going to go straight from one wire to the other, you are not in the conduction path. It's like a bird sitting on top of an HV line. Electricity takes the path of least resistance which in this case is through the water.

 

[instruite]

When I was 6 or 7 years old (I dont remember exact age)
I did a simple thing
I just took a piece of wire remove its insulation make the switch for the AC outlet in my house ON and put the wire in my hand in the two holes of the outlet
I was standing on a bed which was wooden and my house was on 4th floor so if you assume earth as ground even for matter the walls of my house I was still insulated from ground with the the wooden structure of the bed and obviously the bed itself
and as we all know electricity flow through the minimum resistance path, Ideally the current should have gone through the wire only
but I had the shock of my life and I was thrown almost 3 feet away (as you might be knowing AC current thows you out while DC make you stick)
and all my fingers upper postion was burnt which was due to obviously high current in the metal

So if you want to test if electricity mixes with water or no make sure you are floating in air like birds else have somebody ready to call the ambulance

 

[kazakhan]

(as you might be knowing AC current thows you out while DC make you stick)

Are you sure? I did something very similar(posted about it somewhere here already too) at 5 I used a fork and shorted active and neutral if I recall correctly. I most certainly got stuck my mother kicked my arm off the socket. I've also been thrown by grabbing a soldering iron by the wrong end

 

[instruite]

(as you might be knowing AC current thows you out while DC make you stick)

Are you sure? I did something very similar(posted about it somewhere here already too) at 5 I used a fork and shorted active and neutral if I recall correctly. I most certainly got stuck my mother kicked my arm off the socket. I've also been thrown by grabbing a soldering iron by the wrong end

See the following website
https://www.school-for-champions.com/science/feedback.cfm?topic=AC
check the reply for the question titled "AC versus DC when holding the wire"

 

[Someone Electro]

Yea birds dont get shoched becose there is almost no voltage difernege to make curent flow trough them.

The only thing is those very high voltage lines that have 100s od kilovots. Then its a problem becose of the crona leakege off the bird wich makes curent flow trough the bird and in the oir.

At 50 Hz your not going to fucntn as a antena.

If you have it at at more than 10khz you hare not going to feal much becose the nerves dont react on that and if the nerves cant sense it you cant feal it.
Also the nerves going to your hart are not going to react so its much safer.

Thats also why toching an output if an TV flyback transformer is not dengerus.But since its up to 200W it will burn you-

50Hz - 60Hz is one of the most dengerus freq.

If you are going to test that you beter use insulated mains(no comon ground) and probes.Also this cod run quite some curent trough water.

 

[panic mode]

Thats also why toching an output if an TV flyback transformer is not dengerus.But since its up to 200W it will burn you.

i got zapped by flyback few times too. once it was bad flyback transformer and it was really nasty sting with my finger smoking. while this obviously still didn't kill me, i felt consequences for almost a month
(i did also hurt myself by falling off my chair, just didn't know it right away because i was numb for 15 minutes).
i would rate combined effect of this like falling from balcony on a hard pavement (and NOT landing on your feet or at least hands).
do i consider it dangerous. well... yeah! ... anytime something hurts you - it IS dangerous.

:lol: :lol: :lol:


ah, young days...

 

[JimB]

Pure water is non-conductive. The purity of water is usually measured by its conductivity/resistivity.
However, put some salt or a drop of acid in there and you get quite a good conductor.
If you have two electrodes in the water, and a current flowing between them, if you put your finger in the water, some current will flow through your finger. Just how much current depends on where your finger is in the water in relation to the electrodes. If your finger is in the direct path between the electrodes, a lot of the current wiil flow through your finger. If your finger is behind one of the electrodes, your finger will pass no current.

This all assumes the the finger is not connected to earth through any other path.

JimB

PS, I feel that you are trolling here with this question. I refuse to believe that you are stupid enough to try it.

 

[mstechca]

Think about it though, the electricity does not have anywhere to go through you (assuming you're not grounded). The electricity is going to go straight from one wire to the other, you are not in the conduction path. It's like a bird sitting on top of an HV line. Electricity takes the path of least resistance which in this case is through the water.

Doesen't our brain have something inside it that conducts electricity?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Doesen't our brain have something inside it that conducts electricity?

Isn't the human body (and other animals) something like 65-70% water?.

 

[zachtheterrible]

but the electricity wouldn't get to the brain unless your head was grounded.

 

[kazakhan]

See the following website
https://www.school-for-champions.com/science/feedback.cfm?topic=AC
check the reply for the question titled "AC versus DC when holding the wire"

Are you calling me a liar? Whilst it may generally be the case it's obvious from my circumstances it is not the rule. Also the answer you've pointed to is quite poor which follows :-
Yes. It has to do with how the electricity causes the muscles to contract. DC causes muscles to tighten up, because the current it in one direction.
From this answer you could assume that AC will cause the muscles to loosen. Obviously that is not the case. How about the fact that AC is alternating, the contracted muscles actually get a chance to un-contract which they do leading to the throwing effect depending on the posture\position of the person. In the case where I got stuck to the wall socket I was sitting legs crossed, I was shaking quite rapidly(50Hz :lol and I couldn't breathe or move whilst being shocked. Of course with DC the muscles have little chance of un-contracting and hence the sticking.

but the electricity wouldn't get to the brain unless your head was grounded.

I wouldn't test that idea if I were you :shock:

 

[zachtheterrible]

I wouldn't test that idea if I were you

Neither would I. that's why I leave it a theory :lol:

 

[akg]

Isn't the human body (and other animals) something like 65-70% water?.

yes ofcource.. not only water ..but also containing high conductivity salts [/quote]

 

[akg]

Doesen't our brain have something inside it that conducts electricity?

yes .. our brain should have 'something' inside

 

[Someone Electro]

Well probobly only the nerves are stimulated.

If a neve cell is stimulated it will triger the next one and that the next and the next one... Thay way transporting some singnal.The nerve cells in out brain work simalar to logic gates they proces an signal.And afuly a lot of them make a brain.

A salt can make water an amazingly good conductor.

Electricety kills becose that shock makes the nerve cells control the hart wrong or becose it frys your body.(Depends on where and how you get shocked.)