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If two terminals of a battery are dipped in a ionic solution e.g. salt dissolved in water. Then if we put our hand in the solution then should we get shocked?

Nikhil Thakur
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    That would depend on a lot of things, e.g., the battery voltage, placement of each hand (or is it only one hand?), placement of each electrode, concentration of the salt, etc. Can you narrow it down? – Peter Mortensen Aug 01 '22 at 20:46

4 Answers4

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If the battery has sufficient voltage to shock you, yes. Electric eels are an example of this.

The current in your body that shocks you is an ionic current, even if it's delivered to your skin as electrons.

John Doty
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Yes, and people have died as a result. One example is when someone is using a portable electric generator/welder on a dock with swimmers nearby, and has improperly grounded the welding rig. Ground currents flowing through the water then electrocuted one of the swimmers.

niels nielsen
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    In the OP example the potential difference is across the hand only and dc only. I can’t believe there’s a potential for lethal electric shock. Your example involves complete body immersion and ac, a whole different level of risk. – Bob D Aug 01 '22 at 18:47
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It depends on what you mean by "shocked". The term "electric shock" is sometimes used to refer to a wide variety of physiological effects of current in the body, ranging from an involuntary startle reaction, strong involuntary muscular contractions, inability to let go, and ventricular fibrillation.

If you are referring to a potentially lethal electric shock, then I believe the answer is no because your example involves a current path confined to the hand and the hand contains no vital organs (in particular, the heart).

With regard to experiencing one of the other above listed effects, I suppose that would be possible, depending on the magnitude of the battery voltage. However, in my experience in electrical safety, I can't recall seeing any electric shock research involving the physiological effects of current confined to a path through a wet hand and involving a battery (dc voltage).

Hope this helps.

Bob D
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Yes.

When I was an assistant to a science department, I used to set up an experiment where electrolytes in a bath were paired up with the leads of a small, not powerful transfomer that reduced the current and voltage to levels typical of cell phones. One would put one's thumb and fingers in the bath on parallel pathways. As the points of contact were equipotential, one would feel nothing. However, as one rotates one hand creating a potential difference, electricity begins to flow through the hand, and one can begin to feel the flow grow more intense until the fingers and thumb are placed on serial points along roughly the same point.

J D
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