Electric Shock: Preventable
Published by Many people die of electric shocks all over the world every year. Great caution is needed when we handle electric appliances. What sort of care should be taken to safeguard ourselves against such shocks? In order to do so, we must understand the basic principles of electricity.
We must learn that electricity flows more easily through metals like silver, copper, iron, aluminum etc. They are called good conductors of electricity. There are other kinds of materials called insulators. For example wood, glass, air, porcelain, rubber etc.
These are used to confine electricity to the conductors. They can be easily seen in th4e flexible cord used to connect the appliance to the plug on the switchboard. Sometimes due to wear and tear, the insulation cracks and peels off. Such a faulty flexible cord is dangerous because you can get an electric shock when the exposed conductor touches your body.
So such cord should be changed immediately. Only three wire cords should be used and good earth connections made. The third wire conducts leakage of the current to the earth. If there is no earth connection, there is a greater risk of getting an electric shock.
It is quite important to know why we get an electric shock. Our body offers considerable resistance to electric current when it is dry but much less when wet. When we stand on an insulation like wood or rubber very little current can flow but when we are wet and stand barefoot on ground as in bathroom, greater amount of current can pass through the body.
The severity of electric shock depends upon the rate of current that flows through the body. If about 0.1 ampere current passes through a vital organ like hart, the effect can be fatal.
The larger the amount of electric current and greater the duration of its passage, the more dangerous it is.
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