20-03-2021, 10:23 PM
The ladder is the easy one - you won't get a shock!
If you put the ladder in a steady E-field of 100V/m, the presence of the ladder will alter the field such that the potential gradient becomes zero (it's likely to be rather higher, close to the ladder though).
If there really was 100V between the ends of the ladder, there would be a continuous current flowing along it - which is obviously impossible.
The way you COULD get a potential difference in theory between the ends of the ladder is if it is in a rapidly changing magnetic field, which would drive electrons from one end to the other until the potential gradient within the ladder, which tends to make the electrons equalise themselves along its length, balanced the effect of the changing magnetic field. This is of course how a dynamo works. But even if you could get a fast-enough changing field to do this, you still wouldn't feel a shock when your hands were in the top of the ladder and your bare feet were on the bottom, because the same field would create exactly the same voltage in your own body, so no current would flow.
It might feel rather weird though - I shan't be rushing to try and prove it!
If you put the ladder in a steady E-field of 100V/m, the presence of the ladder will alter the field such that the potential gradient becomes zero (it's likely to be rather higher, close to the ladder though).
If there really was 100V between the ends of the ladder, there would be a continuous current flowing along it - which is obviously impossible.
The way you COULD get a potential difference in theory between the ends of the ladder is if it is in a rapidly changing magnetic field, which would drive electrons from one end to the other until the potential gradient within the ladder, which tends to make the electrons equalise themselves along its length, balanced the effect of the changing magnetic field. This is of course how a dynamo works. But even if you could get a fast-enough changing field to do this, you still wouldn't feel a shock when your hands were in the top of the ladder and your bare feet were on the bottom, because the same field would create exactly the same voltage in your own body, so no current would flow.
It might feel rather weird though - I shan't be rushing to try and prove it!
