Can someone be electricuted if they out their head next to a train line?
Electricity can jump an air gap. The actual distance jumped depends on the conductivity of the electrodes (i.e. the conductor rail and your head); the excellence of the earthing of your head (i.e. is you skin in contact with the soil); the dampness of the air and the ground; the actual voltage on the conductor rail. In practice you would probably have to be much closer than 10cm to get a spark; but that spark would probably kill you – if you were lucky. If you were not lucky enough to be killed outright then the resulting burns would be horrifically disfiguring, disabling and agoinsingly painful beyond anything that you could imagine. In practice your head would probably also be hit by the suspension mechanisms on the bogies of a passing train. Third rail electric trains in the UK use Direct Current. This will ‘clamp’ you because it causes the muscles to contract (before burning out). The voltage on the third rail can be anything from 750V to 600V or so; depending on location, train sp
