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  1. If a person jumps and then touches an electrical outlet's hot terminal at $220 \, \mathrm{V} ,$ would it cause them harm? Would any current flow through them?

  2. If a person on the 11th floor of a tall building touches the hot terminal of an electrical socket without jumping, then would current flow through them? What if they were touching a large metal fixture like a radiator as well?

Nat
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    Related: "Why do birds sitting on electric wires not get shocked?". – Nat Sep 08 '18 at 18:24
  • Welcome to SE.Physics! I think that you're basically asking about if electric current can electrocute someone while they're in mid-air, but the English used in the question statement is a bit difficult to understand. It could help if the question's wording were clarified. – Nat Sep 08 '18 at 18:26
  • @Nat what actually is wrong with English? –  Sep 08 '18 at 18:27
  • @Nat, and I understand that there is some potential difference between me and terminal, but if do not touch the "ground" the "circuit" will be open. I do not understand, how current flow through me when I stay in wood plane, for example. It has a huge resistance, so how can there be current? –  Sep 08 '18 at 18:31
  • "being in the jump" sounds weird; we'd normally say that someone is "in the air after jumping", or something like that. "socket terminal" is a bit odd, too, and there are a few other unusual word choices. Also, I'm not sure what "the 11 floor" refers to. Then, you say "220 potential"; I assume that you mean $220 , \mathrm{V} ,$ since that's a common voltage for outlets in many parts of the world, but then you also mention a battery? Sorry, I'm not sure how to really explain it. – Nat Sep 08 '18 at 18:35
  • The 11th floor - building consist of floors, imagine, I am situated on the 11th floor. 220 V is voltage which means potential difference, i.e. there are 220 potential in one terminal relative to another terminal - ground(zero potential). Battery.. Well, I meant the thing with water, that warms rooms. In my language battery in the phone, and in the the room is the same word, google translate said the same. However, do You have an answer? –  Sep 08 '18 at 18:44
  • The thing with water that heats rooms is probably a radiator. Many larger appliances like radiators are often grounded, so touching them can be like touching the ground pin of an electrical outlet. – Nat Sep 08 '18 at 19:02
  • @Nat, thanks for editing, yeah why radiator will provides a current is clear. Why, when I stay just in the floor, that made from wood, that has huge resistance, touching the "hot" terminal of electrical outlet will produce the current, whatever? –  Sep 08 '18 at 19:06
  • Touching a hot terminal while jumping probably won't complete a circuit, so presumably there wouldn't be any steady-state current flowing, but there can still be transient (temporary) effects due to potential differences, much like getting shocked by static electricity. This YouTube video (originally linked in this answer) shows a power line worker using a rod that presumably has a strong resistance to it to gradually match the power line's potential. – Nat Sep 08 '18 at 19:07
  • Your question about standing on a wooden floor is a good one. It's less clear what sort of danger they might face in terms of completing a circuit. – Nat Sep 08 '18 at 19:09
  • @Nat, I mean the same case - 220V 60Hz AC voltage source. I stay on the wood, tile, or another common dielectric material, which the floor consists. I touch only one terminal(not ground), it hurts me. How? –  Sep 08 '18 at 19:15
  • That's a good question! Would you like your above post to focus on that specific situation? – Nat Sep 08 '18 at 19:16
  • @Nat I've created another one https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/427539/205695, You are welcome –  Sep 08 '18 at 19:21

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It depends how you do it. If you have one finger on the positive terminal and one finger on the negative terminal then most certainly current will still flow as you are closing a circuit. And, yes, it would hurt you.

I don't understand your second question entirely...

Trevor Kafka
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  • No, I touch only one terminal, don't touch another, and do not touch the floor. –  Sep 08 '18 at 18:27
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    If you don't close a circuit between two points of different voltage, then you will not generate a current. That's basically Ohm's law $V=IR$ ($V$ refers to voltage difference). – Trevor Kafka Sep 08 '18 at 18:32
  • I understand that there is some potential difference between me and terminal, but if do not touch the "ground" the "circuit" will be open. And I do understand, that potential different between one terminal and "ground" is 220(if DC). I do not understand, how current flow through me when I stay in wood plane, for example. It has a huge resistance, so how can there be current? –  Sep 08 '18 at 18:33
  • 220V is a lot of voltage—evidently enough for $I=V/R$ to be lethal in this case. – Trevor Kafka Sep 22 '18 at 01:29