I was reading through the all about circuits lecture on shock current path, and I had a basic questions that I was hoping someone could answer...
http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_1/chpt_3/3.html
In the fourth example in the lecture, there is a man touching a high voltage line, whose feet are grounded to the earth. The circuit is not grounded to the earth. In the lecture he does not get shocked. I don't quite understand why. To my reasoning, the earth probably has a very low potential, the line he is touching has a high potential, and he seems to be a shorter path than the rest of the circuit to a point of low voltage?
If I understand the rest of the lecture, anytime that you and the power line share a ground to the earth at a high voltage point you don't get shocked, any time that you and the power line share a ground to the earth at a low voltage point, you don't get shocked. Anytime that you have a ground at either high or low voltage, and the power line has a ground at the point of opposite voltage, you get shocked...
But what I don't understand is, in an earth-grounded power line, where is the electricity actually flowing, back to the transformer, or back to the earth?
http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_1/chpt_3/3.html
In the fourth example in the lecture, there is a man touching a high voltage line, whose feet are grounded to the earth. The circuit is not grounded to the earth. In the lecture he does not get shocked. I don't quite understand why. To my reasoning, the earth probably has a very low potential, the line he is touching has a high potential, and he seems to be a shorter path than the rest of the circuit to a point of low voltage?
If I understand the rest of the lecture, anytime that you and the power line share a ground to the earth at a high voltage point you don't get shocked, any time that you and the power line share a ground to the earth at a low voltage point, you don't get shocked. Anytime that you have a ground at either high or low voltage, and the power line has a ground at the point of opposite voltage, you get shocked...
But what I don't understand is, in an earth-grounded power line, where is the electricity actually flowing, back to the transformer, or back to the earth?