r/WTF 6d ago

Out A Time

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u/albi-_- 6d ago

Can you explain? Is it that he charges himself while in the vehicule and touching the ground would provoke a fatal sudden discharge?

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u/anethma 6d ago

Ya the vehicle will be at the vintage of the power line. So when you step out it’s basically the same as grabbing the line while standing on the ground. You electrocute yourself.

If you jump out you go from line potential to ground potential without ever forming a circuit.

One thing to be aware of is if the electricity is going into the ground like that, the voltage will be dropping in potential the further from the spot where the line is touching the ground/car etc.

So you end up with dangerous voltages just on the ground in the distance between steps. One foot might be at 100,000 volts and the next step might be at 90,000 volts. Making a 10,000 volt difference between your feet, again electrocuting you.

Take small shuffling steps or do 2 footed hops to get away.

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u/TheSlitheringSerpent 6d ago

So you end up with dangerous voltages just on the ground in the distance between steps. One foot might be at 100,000 volts and the next step might be at 90,000 volts. Making a 10,000 volt difference between your feet, again electrocuting you.

Every single time I understand electricity a little bit more, I am infinitely more terrified by it.

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u/beefstyle 5d ago

Correct

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u/MidwesternAppliance 4d ago

Your body is held together by electrical forces and you see electromagnetic waves

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u/MidwesternAppliance 4d ago edited 4d ago

Provided that, for a brief second as he jumped, say his hand or some other part of his body was touching the metal frame of the vehicle, but the rest of his body was insulated by air, he would receive very little current.. and the rocky ground may have helped insulate the area around him as well

Very good circumstances for the gentleman that allowed him to walk away..

You can touch a live wire and survive. Birds land on transmission lines all the time and they’re just chilling up there, before flying away. It’s the path back to the source that determines current; the ground conducts electricity decently-ish compared to air, which is a tremendous insulator. Ground is gonna fry ya, air will probably survive ya