reality, it would be a matter of minutes before the ions in one per-
son’s body could actually drift deep into the other’s. What really
happens is that throughout the body of the recipient of the shock
there are already various positive and negative ions which are free
to move. Even before the perpetrator’s charged hand touches the
victim’s sweaty palm, the charges in the shocker’s body begin to
repel the positive ions and attract the negative ions in the other
person. The split-second sensation of shock is caused by the sudden
jumping of the victim’s ions by distances of perhaps a micrometer,
this effect occurring simultaneously throughout the whole body, al-
though more violently in the hand and arm, which are closer to the
other person.
Section 9.1 Current and voltage 551