15 Feb 14, 09:20PM
For years now I've not been able to understand how this works.
How can I touch one plate of a capacitor and not be shocked, but when I touch both of them I do get shocked? Say I touch the positive terminal and I am in one of those moods where I decide against floating in mid-air. Why don't electrons flow from the ground, through me and give me a shock?
Or perhaps imagine crocodile clips in a power supply. Why can't electricity shock you when you touch the one clip, and are earthed?
And how does the third rail manage to electrocute people who are earthed but not the crocodile clip, or charged plate. Because they all have a voltage, being connected to a switched on power supply, shouldn't they all shock me?
How can I touch one plate of a capacitor and not be shocked, but when I touch both of them I do get shocked? Say I touch the positive terminal and I am in one of those moods where I decide against floating in mid-air. Why don't electrons flow from the ground, through me and give me a shock?
Or perhaps imagine crocodile clips in a power supply. Why can't electricity shock you when you touch the one clip, and are earthed?
And how does the third rail manage to electrocute people who are earthed but not the crocodile clip, or charged plate. Because they all have a voltage, being connected to a switched on power supply, shouldn't they all shock me?