How do some people not feel shock?

Question

How is it that some people don't feel electric shock?

I have a friend who can't feel electric shock. At least to a certain degree.

He first became aware when he pushed on a shocking pen. Other people were using it, and getting shocked, and dropping the pen. He held on until the battery died, and said he didn't feel anything. He tried other small shocking toys, and still nothing. On another occasion, he decided to try to grab an electric horse fence. Again, he felt nothing.

He's volunteered to let other individuals use stun guns on him. He got zapped with stun guns ranging anywhere between 50,000 volts, to 800,000 volts, and he said the only thing he felt was more of a burning feeling after a while, but he didn't feel any shock, where as other people who used it dropped to the ground in agonzing pain. He put a 800,000 volt stun gun to his stomach for 30 seconds, and it ended up leaving a bruise, but he didn't feel the shock.

He says it's nothing he tries to do, but it

Answer 1

Hmmm. I have never heard of anything like this before. This is very odd. I don't really have any experience in this type of science, but I will try to answer it to the best of my abilities. The only possible explanation I can come up with is that during the developmental stage of his body inside of the womb, some of the (stem cells?) didn't go to the appropriate places, causing a mutation with his nerves. But I could be completely wrong, I'm only 17 and still in high school =P   Best answer I could come up with though.

Answer 2

The primary variable for determining the severity of electric shock is the electric current

(  Will the 120 volt common household voltage produce a dangerous shock? It depends!

If your body resistance is 100,000 ohms, then the current which would flow would be:

But if you have just played a couple of sets of tennis, are sweaty and barefoot, then your resistance to ground might be as low as 1000 ohms. Then the current would be:

The severity of shock from a given source will depend upon its path through your body.  )

which passes through the body. This current is of course dependent upon the  voltage and the resistance of the path it follows through the body. An approximate general framework for shock effects is as follows:

Electric Current

(1 second contact)



Physiological Effect

1 mA



Threshold of feeling, tingling sensation.

10-20 mA



"Can't let go!" current - onset of sustained

muscular contraction.

100-300 mA



Ventricular fibrillation, fatal if continued.

One instructive example of the nature of voltage is the fact that a bird can sit on a high-voltage wire without harm, since both of its feet are at the same voltage. You can also see that the bird is not "grounded" -- you will not be shocked by touching a high voltage if there is no path for the current to reach the Earth or a different voltage point. Typically if you touch a 120 volt circuit with one hand, you can escape serious shock if you have insulating shoes which prevent a low-resistance path to ground. This fact has led to the common "hand-in-the-pocket" practice for engineers and electrical workers. If you keep one hand in your pocket when touching a circuit which might provide a shock, you are less likely to have the kind of path to ground which will result in a serious shock.