all about circuits states that "Electric shock can only occur when contact is made between two points of a circuit; when voltage is applied across a victim's body."

so if i hold an overhead wire with both hands and hang from it without touching anything else,i wont get an electric shock ...right?

 

exactly!!
there must be a path for electrons to complete the cicuit
i;e to travel from higher potential to lower,
if u touch the wire even with any of ur hand not necessarily both u are at the same potential as that of wire.

 

so if i hold an overhead wire with both hands and hang from it without touching anything else,i wont get an electric shock ...right?

You are a high resistance path in parallel with the wire. Do the relevant maths using Ohm's Law and parallel resistor equations and this will demonstrate the point clearly.

Dave

 

Just ask all those squirrels and birds!

 

Just ask all those squirrels and birds!

Strangely enough, something I was explaining to my missus today as she commented that 'no birds had come near our new house'. Needless to say she didn't pay a blind bit of notice!

Dave

 

Should the term shock aplly to a significant voltage/current? I mean, there is always a path that electron will biase, even if the source is a 12V battery (current will be very small, thought).

 

Cumesofware, (and anyone else who might be interested in what "shock" is) read this: http://www.llnl.gov/es_and_h/sourcematerial/earm_1961.pdf

It answers your question in great detail.