It’s about this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHTixgZPVOk Staff has his shoes on and grabs an electric fence and nothing happens. Mathias, on the other hand, takes off his shoes and grabs an electric fence and receives a shock. Why does Mathias get a shock and Staf not, because in the end they are both a conductor or not?
Answer
Dear Aysenur,
The reason Staff doesn’t get a shock is because he’s wearing shoes. These most likely have rubber soles, which are insulating. This ensures that the current cannot reach the ground through Staf’s body and therefore will not move through him. The moment you don’t have shoes on, that insulating layer between yourself and the ground is gone. It is only at that moment that the current through your body can enter the ground that you will act as a conductor. This can also be seen in the Movie with Mathias. He has already held the electric fence for a while before he puts his unshod foot on the ground. Until he does that, he remains an insulator. As soon as his unshod foot touches the ground, he becomes a conductor of current and receives a shock. Note also that Staff holding him will not get a shock himself, since he is still wearing his shoes and thus does not provide a path for the current to escape into the earth.
Regards,
Danny
Answered by
dr. Danny Vanpoucke
Computational Materials Research
Agoralaan University Campus Building D BE-3590 Diepenbeek
http://www.uhasselt.be/
.