- #1
Guineafowl
- 752
- 358
Hi all. I've studied some physics, electronics and electrical engineering in my time but still can't quite get an answer to a very basic question about mains electric shocks...
I am referenced to ground. The live (hot) in my country is at 230V rms to neutral, which is in turn referenced to ground and therefore to me. I get that. If I hold a ground rod and touch a live wire with a piddling 1mm of plastic insulation, all is well. If I (hypothetically) touch the bare live wire and nothing else, I get a shock even though I am insulated from ground by a good 20mm of rubber boot sole. Why? 230V (or even 330V peak) isn't enough to drive current through my boot soles, is it? Nothing would happen if I put live and neutral across the boot sole on its own.
So, is the shock in the second scenario to do with some sort of capacitive coupling? Am I being charged to +330V then -330V 50 times a second? Surely not, as otherwise isolation transformers wouldn't work.
I'm sure I'm missing something here, and hope this isn't a stupid question.
I am referenced to ground. The live (hot) in my country is at 230V rms to neutral, which is in turn referenced to ground and therefore to me. I get that. If I hold a ground rod and touch a live wire with a piddling 1mm of plastic insulation, all is well. If I (hypothetically) touch the bare live wire and nothing else, I get a shock even though I am insulated from ground by a good 20mm of rubber boot sole. Why? 230V (or even 330V peak) isn't enough to drive current through my boot soles, is it? Nothing would happen if I put live and neutral across the boot sole on its own.
So, is the shock in the second scenario to do with some sort of capacitive coupling? Am I being charged to +330V then -330V 50 times a second? Surely not, as otherwise isolation transformers wouldn't work.
I'm sure I'm missing something here, and hope this isn't a stupid question.