Rich said:
As I understand it, it's not a case of a short cut but that the current
flows through all available paths and a person in the bath or pool would
be part of, and well coupled to, a non-trivial subset of "all paths."
Not quite. Current flows where the electrical field tells it to flow. Two
contacts simultaneously dropped into the water will develop a dipole field
which decays as s^-3 over the distance. If only the "hot" wire gets wet and
the path to ground goes through the body, that's a different matter.
Let's assume an all-metal, grounded bathtub and a standard 20mA FI switch.
The person sits in one end of the tub and a single wire, connected to "hot",
is dipped into the water near the other end. Even if we assume the human
body to be highly conductive it's not going to be as conductive as the tub,
so the current will distribute in all directions and only a small fraction
will go though the terrified would-be victim's body. He probably wouldn't
even feel a shock before the FI cuts off.
With the electric BBQ -- if the power strip goes under, there will be
considerable current between adjacing contacts, but not though the
inhabitants of the pool, who are several feet from the strip.
Would I try this myself? Hell no.
robert
