I've been doing electronics for three years now but I don't understand how a person can be electrocuted by touching one part of the circuit in a mains supply.
If I hold one lead of an ohmmeter in my left hand, and the other in my right hand, it registers the resistance to be approximately 2 megaohms, which is ridiculously high. Now if I hold one lead in my hand, and dig the other into the grass, it doesn't even register -- I may as well be holding the leads apart in thin air.
Current = Voltage divided by Resistance
Current = 230 volts divided by 2 megaohms = 115 microamperes
115 microamperes is nowhere near enough to electrocute someone.So lets say I stick a metal rod into the socket on the wall. The current has to flow thru my hand, down to my foot, thru my cotton sock, thru my shoe, thru the wooden floorboards, thru the concrete, thru the clay down to the metal rod we call ground. Now excuse me, but is that not a RIDICULOUS amount of resistance, up in the gigohms somewhere?
It may sound like I'm denying that people get electrocuted -- I'm not, I realise that people do get electrocuted. But I can't for the life of me understand how enough current can flow, given the massive resistances that are involved.
Can anyone enlighten me?