Why Do Some People Conduct Electricity and Others Don't?

AI Thread Summary
Some individuals can conduct electricity better than others, as demonstrated by experiments measuring voltage readings from human subjects. Factors influencing these readings include the body's water content and ion concentration, which contribute to electrical conductivity. Additionally, the human body can act as an antenna for radio frequencies, detecting signals based on individual differences. Variations in readings may also arise from the experimental setup, such as grounding effects or interference from electrical sources. Understanding these phenomena can shed light on the complexities of human conductivity and its implications in both physics and biology.
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I wasn't sure whether to post this question in biology or physics.

I'm stumped on a couple experiments.

Here are the basic experiments. I have people wash their hands and dry them off and then hold onto the probes of a volt meter. To my surprise some people give a reading as high as .3Volts while others give 0 volts. Why is that?

The other experiment involves a radio frequency detector with an antenna. In open air it just scans and reads nothing but when I place the antenna about an inch away from a person the radio frequency detector often detects some frequencies while in other people it does not. The subjects said that they had no metal fillings or other metal placed in their bodies. What might cause that?

Thanks in advance for ideas.
 
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A human body has a lot of water with ions dissolved in it, and that conducts electricity.
For the static voltage, those reactions might influence the result.
 
I am fascinated by your experiment can you share more information
 
This thread is 2.5 years old.
 
At the risk of 'thread necromancy', may I point out that your body may serve as an antenna for local radio stations etc ? There was the infamous case of a man whose semi-metallic dental fillings rectified the local station's output, meaning he could often hear their transmissions. Fortunately, his counsellor thought to test the claim, rather than ring for a squad of orderlies. Later, many real-neat 'Science Fair' projects powered their simple wide-band radios' 'flea-power' amplifier from the local station's rectified output. Update that, touching the open input of your digital voltmeter's high-impedance, high-gain amplifier may provide signals within the amp's bandwidth. This is, of course, distinct from 'carpet zap' static...
 
Also aware it's an old thread but...

If they held a meter probe in each hand then there was a loop formed comprising the meter leads, their body and the meter. This loop is capable of coupling with the mains in the building. Can cause all sorts of strange readings on a meter.
 
So I know that electrons are fundamental, there's no 'material' that makes them up, it's like talking about a colour itself rather than a car or a flower. Now protons and neutrons and quarks and whatever other stuff is there fundamentally, I want someone to kind of teach me these, I have a lot of questions that books might not give the answer in the way I understand. Thanks
I am attempting to use a Raman TruScan with a 785 nm laser to read a material for identification purposes. The material causes too much fluorescence and doesn’t not produce a good signal. However another lab is able to produce a good signal consistently using the same Raman model and sample material. What would be the reason for the different results between instruments?

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