Say for example you were to get shocked by an household electrical outlet/ power socket as you were pulling out a plug but some how managed to touch the two metal prongs on the plug in the process of pulling it out, would a quick shock like that reach the brain? And even worse, fry it, causing thermal heat injury to tissue? I read somewhere that it potentially also could cause concussive forces leading to irreversible damage.

So, well, I pulled out a plug from an extension cord, which required me to use one hand to keep it in place, and the other to pull out the plug itself to break the circuit. Well, what happened was that, it was a bit hard to plug out, but when I pulled with enough force it eventually dislodged from the socket. Unfortunately, I could feel the two metal prongs touching my other hand when it was pulled out. So I'm now not entirely sure if I was actually shocked or not, because it went so fast. So is an electrical outlet as hazardeous to your health as people make it out to be? Isn't it normal to have tried being shocked by one, at least once?

Minimac,

I have been shocked by electricity many times. Believe me, you would know it if you had been shocked. It the electricity went down your finger from one plug end to the other, you would feel a tingle or zap in your finger. Nothing would make it past your finger.

If you touched a separate live wire with each hand, the shock would go up your right arm, across your chest and down your left arm. Ouch, that would sting. It would also be bad for your heart if the shock was more than momentary. But, it would not effect your brain. You would need one or both of the wires to be contacting your head to shock your brain.

To get a sense of what an electrical shock feels like, you can try this. Get a 9 volt battery with those snap connectors on the top. Wet your finger and touch both snap connectors. You will feel a 9 volt 5 to 30 milliAmp shock. An electrical power cord would be up to 100 times that if good contact is make.

Most people have dry skin so very little current will flow through their skin. That is why you need to wet your fingers to get a shock from the 9 volt battery.

When I did electrical work in homes, I would routinely use my fingers (same hand) to test for a live circuit. Even with the higher volts and amps of a house circuit, I would still need to wet my fingers just to get a mild sizzle.

So, again, No, you did not shock your brain, probably not even your fingers.

Wait what, so even touching both metal prongs at the same time with one hand won't give you a dangerous shock because it only will reach your fingers / hand at the most, why's that, it's got no where to flow but back ? I thought you only needed to touch the ground to complete a circuit. Also you touched routinely electricity equal to that of a power socket? (at around 10 - 13 amps and 220 volt here in Europe I think). Will it never reach the brain unless the circuit directly is applied to the head, since it takes the shortest path or something?

People make it out to be extremely dangerous, but what they mean then, is if you touch with two hands at the same time? What about two fingers? I thought if you touched with one finger it would go through you and then into the ground through your feet, meaning it would enter one side of your chest or something.

Minimac,
Don't mess with mains electrics -Full Stop. Ring mains in Europe carry up to 30 amps and there is reason legislation is in place for all electrical work to be carried out by qualified electricians.
Accidental or deliberate electrocution will lead to burns, pain or death.

Dave.

Playing with electricity is dangerous. Period.

I was not suggesting playing with electricity. Never would.

The others are right. If you touched a hot wire and you had a ground through your feet or some other body part, the electricity would flow through any part of your body that is between those two points. That would be dangerous. But, you said you touched both prongs at the same time with the same hand. The electricity would want to flow from one prong to the other just across your finger or hand.

But, if you did not feel a shock, you did not get shocked.

Here in the US, the voltage is 110-120 volts. The amperage would usually be 15 to 30 amps. Only electric stoves and electric clothes dryers routinely use 220-240 volts but they are on a isolated high amperage (50 amp) circuit.

We also have modern homes wired with Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters. They shut off the power when they sense a leak of power to anything. A touch of even a very dry finger will shut off the power. The shock will be barely perceptible but the power will go out. They started in limited areas near water in the 1970's and are now required in almost the whole house.

They are required on the plug end of hair dryers, curling irons and corded electric shavers since they are routinely used near water/sinks.

In most cases, a house can be rewired with GFCI's for a reasonable amount. They can even work in an old two wire home electrical system without a ground wire system.

If you get shocked by walking across a carpeted floor, you can reduce the chance of shock by lightly spraying the carper with salt water. Just a slight mist from a misting sprayer filled with salt water will reduce or end the shocks. We had a problem with this. The static charge from walking across the carpet would shock the laptop computer at first touch and shut it off.

If you are concerned about electrical shocks, especially if you routinely use extension cords, getting an update to your outlets and circuit panel would be worthwhile.

Different locations & countries have differing wiring, and a place could be incorrectly wired or not up to code, so that has to be considered too.

But generally, most people will know if they got a zap from wires or plugs.

If you didn't feel a clear zap it certainly wouldn't be enough to hurt the brain.

Having worked a burns unit at one time in my career many years ago, I'd suggest not.

I see that in Europe, a GFCI is known as a RCBO (residual-current circuit breaker with overload protection) . You guys sure have a different way of wiring a house. Ring Circuits (ring mains) used to be used in the high voltage neighborhood distribution system but we never used rings inside the house.

Contrary to Minimac's idea, I don't think many people want to test out what it feels like to get shocked. I got it once across the chest and hope to never feel that again.

I hope Minimac never tries to find out what it feels like.

Can leaving the plug halfway into an electrical outlet cause it to burst out and emit sparks that can shock your hand near the outlet? Because sometimes if you can't plug it in quickly enough you can literally hear the electricity floating around and burn marks on the metal prongs can be seen when pulled out. It just worries me that the electricity maybe could create a gap from the metal prongs to your hand through the air by a blue spark or something.

Or is the electricity so relatively low in amps and voltage that a gap through the air isn't possible and you HAVE to physically touch the metal prongs to become a part of the circuit?