If a man hangs on one live wire with two hands will he get shocked?
If the man grabs on to a single live wire with both hands without touching the ground or any other conductive object, he probably won’t get shocked.
- The current will not pass through a person’s body if they are just in contact with the live wire & are not grounded or in contact with another conductor. This is as a result of the wire’s substantially reduced resistance path in contrast to the body’s high resistance.
- The human body has a high resistance; dry skin normally has a resistance of 100,000 Ω –600,000 Ω (ohms). The current will not pass through the person if they do not offer a low-resistance path to earth.
- This is comparable to how, since they only make touch with one live wire & not the ground, birds can perch on live power lines without getting shocked.
- The person will, however, complete the circuit and probably get shocked if they contact another live wire, the neutral wire, (or) any grounded object with their other hand (or) body. This is because the electricity will then pass through their body.
It is normally safe to hang on to a single live wire with both hands; but, any extra contact with ground or another conductor can result in a potentially dangerous electric shock. The key is keeping isolation from all other conductive routes.