What Part Does Damaged Insulation Play In Electric Shocks?

Although electricity plays a very important role in our daily life, it can also be very dangerous at times. Electrical faults can cause fires, electric shocks as electrocution to users.

The possible causes of dangers caused by electricity are as follows
- Damaged insulators: All electrical appliances require two wires to form a complete circuit from the voltage supply to the appliance and back to the supply. The two wires are called live and neutral wires. The live wire is the dangerous wire because it carries a very huge voltage while the neutral wire carries close to zero voltage. These two wires are insulated in vulcanized rubber and they are housed together in either a circular PVC sheathed cable or a circular braided rubber insulated cable. Insulating materials deteriorate with time and use.

For example electrical cables connecting the hair dyer and the electric iron are always bent and twisted because of the way the appliances are used. This will cause the electrical insulation to crack and break, thus exposing the conducting wires inside. If the vulcanized rubber covering the live wire is also damaged, the exposed live wire can cause a severe electric shock to the user if the user touches it accidentally. This can lead to serious injury and even death.