Our human body can be approximated with a network of network

Our human body can be approximated with a network of network as shown below. Consider this resistor model of a human being for solving the following problem. A crazy man decided to put his finger in a live electrical socket carrying 110 V DC (we are assuming that the socket has DC instead of AC for the purpose of this problem). He is wearing rubber shoes with thick soles. What will happen to him? Will he get an electric shock? Why or why not? How much current will flow through his body? Then he decided to do more crazy things! He removed his left rubber shoe and wore a shoe!! How much current will flow through his body? He then wore metal shoes in both legs... How much current will flow through his

Solution

The main factors that will determine the kind of shock that will be experienced are the duration, frequency and amplitude of the current. Direct Currents actually have zero frequency, as the current is constant. However, there are physiological effects, no matter what type of current it is.

1. (a) I think the answer is it is possible they would protect you from an electric shock. If you have a thick and big rubber sole then you\'re quite insulated from the ground. If there’s no path for electricity to flow through, you won\'t get a big current going through you, so you\'ll be fine. So, as long as you\'re just standing on your shoes you\'re not touching anything else, your feet aren’t wet so they\'re not creating a short path around the rubber soles to the ground, and you\'re not accidentally touching anything metallic.

(b) Very less, In the order of micro amps. (Normal current inside the body)

2. (a) In this case, left rubber shoe is removed. The left path is short circuited. So, current passes through the body.

Current=V/R=110/1100=0.1 Amps

3. Here also the current also passes through the body in both the legs.

Current=110/600=0.183 Amps