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Jurassic Park - Fence Shock
This error has occurred (in one form or another) in other movies as well.
At one point where Grant and the kids are fleeing across the park, they climb across an electric fence. Grant and Alexis make it, but Timmy is not quite down before the power comes on and the shock blasts him away.
*What* shock, though? He isn't touching anything but the fence, so there's no earth plane to which a current through him could flow -- so how did he get a shock?
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Rated 5.3/10 (113 ratings) Your opinion?
Special Requirements: A slight knowledge of physics
Contributed By: Eboreg Onxre on 05-13-2000 and Reviewed By: Webmaster
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Comments:
benigs writes:
Huh? I don't quite understand you... What earth plane? I thought he got a shock because the electricity runs through the wire of the fence...
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
Jazu writes:
It would be faster for the electricity to go through the wire, and the kid wouldn't ground the current, so he wouldn't get zapped. I think he would just get burned.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
Eboreg Onxre writes:
For current to flow, there has to be somewhere for it to flow *to* (usually called the sink) as well as the source where it is flowing *from*. Thus, in order to get a shock, one has to be touching two electrically-conductive things at different voltages (such as a live wire and the ground). No second contact -> no sink -> no shock. Didn't you ever see birds land on a live wire, or the live rail of an electric railway? They don't get fried, do they?
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
Trivimaster writes:
Well, in case you don't know, when an electric fence has a tension that great, you could get a shock even if you are not touching the ground, only it's not that big. (If the kid really got 10.000 volts through him he would have never survived that zapping.)
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
mcpdon writes:
If you touch two or more wires, you will get a shock...the current will go from one wire through you and into the other wire. You're body acts as the ground, if you will. Therefore, yes, the kid would get shocked in that situation. Birds don't get shocked cuz they only touch one wire.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
CtSgIt writes:
He would have been shocked (just not to the full 10,000 volts), this is not static electrcity. If it was static electricity in the wires, he would need to be touching the ground and 10000 volts would barely hurt and not do any damage. This is current electricity flowing through. His hands were on a wire carrying a positive flow and his feet were on a wire carrying a negative flow (or vice versa). When the electricity got turned on, it went from his hands to his feet (which would kill him anyway) shocking him.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
Steve writes:
If the fence was alternating charged and ground lines (as some fences do), then he could very easily have gotten zapped.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
@ssKicker writes:
Timmy was standing on two wires, how else would he have been able to climb the fence? That means he DOES get a shock! Simple as that! (@_@)
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
Scolman writes:
The other thing is, why did Timmy get instantly blown of the fence? Electricity causes your muscles to contract, and whenever electricians working with high power cables, they touch it with the back of their hand instead of gripping it to see if the power is still on (OK, so there are easier ways for testing whether or not a line is live or not these days) This prevents their hand from automatically closing in a 'death grip' on the cable, and so they live long enough to go kick the s**t out of whoever was supposed to turn the power off. So really, Timmy would have kicked around a bit before falling off.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
Neo writes:
The voltage is not what hurts a person getting shocked, it is the current. Normally current goes up as voltage does so it would be easy to make that mistake. And, no, it wouldn't have necessarily killed him. I'm sure you've all heard about humans surviving a hit of lightning.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
Nigel Sutherland writes:
There's a bigger problem with this scene. Take a look at the fence; the horizontal cables that supposedly carry the high voltage are connected to each other by stout, metal wires. If Timmy can electrocuted when he completes a circuit by bridging the horizontal cables with his body, then these vertical wires are going to cause one almighty short circuit. Also - if the fence is not powerful enough to kill a small boy on the spot, what possible effect would it have on an rampaging eight ton dinosaur? It wouldn't even notice it.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
bcheetah writes:
take electronics or watch suicide missions, you get a shock if you make a connection between you and the ground...
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
wittyjokes writes:
Being an electrician myself, this scene is perfectly fine. As stated in other comments, earth is a vital thing you need to be shocked, but not the only thing. What gives you the shock is the current passing through your body onto something else that isnt the same item. For example, if you grab hold of a power line, with your feet off the floor, nothing will happen. This is because the current flows through you and you feel nothing. If however you grab a second line, you will be shocked, as the electricty will effectivly jump through your body, giving you a shock. The reason there is an earth wire in all cables (bar self earthing cables) is to prevent the item that is wired up becoming live if there are any problems. This is why everyone assumes you have to be earthed to be shocked. Birds sit on wires because they are only on one..If they spread there legs to a second wire, bye bye burd!. Also about the contracting muscles, this is only with DC. If the line is AC, it throws you from the appliance.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
Robyn writes:
By that rational, it seems pretty stupid that Dr. Grant would throw a stick at the electrical wire to test it, right?
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
DKqwerty writes:
The problem with the scene is he is thrown from the wire. Even if you rule out the "death-grip" caused by electricity, there is no way that he would have been thrown from the wire 'cause if you slow down the scene you see that when he is thrown off, he is rigid as a board (obviously a dummy). To be thrown from the wire there would need to be several contractions on the legs and arms to throw him away from the wires. Without contractions, he would have fallen straight down and touched it several more times. Also, what people are saying about touching two wires at once, one with his hands and the second with his feet, is inconsequential because his feet have shoes on with rubber soles that would insulate him from the wire on his feet.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
Joe writes:
Yes he would have been shocked. If you think other wise try jumping on an electic fence and see what happens, serious don't do that. What good would the fence be if the dinosaurs could jump and avoid shock? The stick test would have worked. And if you don't remember the shock did kill the kid. Through the use of CPR, which was performed incorrectly, he was brought back to life.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
Scolman writes:
Even if the kid was technically dead for a few moments, what makes this scene even more incorrect is that he should have had 2nd and 3rd degree burns after coming of the fence.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
Ryochan writes:
Rubber or not, that little amount won't protect you from 10,000 volts of electricity. Rubber's an insulator which doesn't conduct electricity as much as a semi-conductor or conductor, but nothing is really 100% electric-proof
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
Kat & Kel writes:
I just wanted to say that a dummy wasn't used, it was a stunt woman. I read it in a magazine.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
dxdec writes:
Sod the electric fence, hitting the ground from that height at that trajectory would have cracked his skull like a peanut in a car crusher. Also the moist tropical air would play havoc with 10,000 volts and the lowest live cables would have arc'ed to the ground and other cables would arc to each other. They came from within the pen, the other side was CONCRETE, he couldnt have lived. Its a movie anyway, so who cares!
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
CosmicStar writes:
Anyone else notice that the space between the wires was big enough for the kids to climb through? The good Dr. would have probably had to climb over but poor Timmy wouldn't have had to get that little shock.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
mkardec writes:
I agree with you. As pigeons don't get shocked by "landing" on uncoated power lines, the same should be applied to the boy. All the wires in the fence are connected with each other by metallic wires, so, all of them shares the same phase/voltage, so, touching two or more fence wires will not cause shock. The boy would only get shocked if the voltage is really high (about half-million or more volts) at which "air grounding" phenomenum takes place and some electricity run through air from sharp objects (like hands, hair, foot, etc.) when compared to a wire.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
Hayley writes:
Look for the answer in the same slip-up posted earlier.Think about it, 10,000 volts of power just shot through dead wires. Something was bound to happen. As for not hurting a dino if it couldn't even kill a boy. Well it is not meant to kill the dino's. It is meant to scare them away from trying to get through the fence. And since the dinos are standing on the ground if they tried to touch the ground, it would be a full circuit and 10,000 volts later it probably would kill or severely hurt them.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
Davo100 writes:
I am amazed how many of the posters here have little or no knowledge of how electricity actually works!!! When Tim is on the fence, he is at the same electrical potential as the fence, therefore there is no voltage gradient across his body, therefore no current flows, therefore no shock. Read a science book; it's true!!! Birds can happily sit on high tension wires for the same reason. Trust me, I'm a scientist!!
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
alexrules43 writes:
This scene is defintely fine. Tim was touching two wires, which shocked him. Also, it has been known that a sudden shock can throw people great distances. There is a clear flub, however. Tim is thrown backwards, head first, but lands on his side.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
[email protected] writes:
quite possibly there was different voltages between the wires of the fence, the difference would cause a shock when touching two wires, as for the vertical wires, between the horizontal, they are usualy made with a non conductive material (like glass or porcelin(sp))to keep the wires from shorting out, also the novel mentioned several fences were damaged and not working properly due to downed tree limbs from the storm. also having done electrical work, it is very possible to be thrown back, (or appear to be), having been shocked a few times, for a moment, you are "Frozen" to the material shocking you, and in attempting to free yourself you pull yourself away, and you need more energy to go in reverse, because of the power shock, that when you break free, you actually fall back, (like pulling on something that unexpectually breaks free causes you to fall)
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
John Willis writes:
To get a shock the kid must be bridging two parts of significantly different potential. From the Movie it can be seen all the wires are tied together by another conductive wire, therefore the fence is not interlaced and the potential difference between any two points would be negligible, certainly not enough for an electric shock. There is however is a very, very, implausible possible reason for the shock to occur, if the AC current is of significantly high frequency to induce a current in the kid at a different phase to the wire, it could possibly flow through his arms and legs. The power required to do this, if even possible given the length of wire in proximity, would be immense.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
Trb696 writes:
Amazed at the all the internet "experts" who comment and have NO clue. I've been an electrical engineer for over 30 years. HE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SHOCKED. I'll go through all the ignorance. 10,000 volts will only jump about a ONE INCH GAP. Your car ignition runs anywhere from 10k to 100,000 volts (in a performance coil) Average is about 50,000 volts, BUT AT MILLI AMPS! It hurts but doesn't kill you and to prevent shock, an ignition safe pliers just has rubber coated handles. VOLTAGE DOESN'T KILL, AMPS (CURRENT) DOES! I've had electrician friends killed by "only" 240vac. Timmy's shoes would probably not be a good insulator IF he was grounded or bridging (which he wasn't). Ever grab a cattle electric fence with shoes on? You still get shocked because your path to ground is not insulated 100%. You have VERY high resistance to ground, but still enough to be complete the circuit. You CAN however grab/touch the fence with a properly insulated tool or tester. I do it with my 50 MILE fence charger all the time. FYI The cattle fence has ONE WIRE (sometimes more) running around the field INSULATED from the ground by plastic wire holders (insulators). The second half of the required circuit is an 8 foot copper rod driven into the ground to make the return path circuit back to the fence charger. The EARTH/GROUND/DIRT is a conductor JUST LIKE A SECOND WIRE!!! ALSO they use from 6,500 to 10,000 VOLTS (CURRENT LIMITED TO MILLIAMPS) , they don't kill you, don't throw you 20 feet, and the movie fence has All the main cables woven together with smaller METAL wire making the same potential EQUALLY across ALL of them. He IS NOT bridging two different conductors. The "pigeon on a SINGLE wire" and "third rail" examples are CORRECT and ACCURATE. The bird or squirrel on a wire does NOT get fried until they concurrently touch a GROUND, a NEUTRAL or another phase conductor (completing a circuit)! AND they Fry because of HIGH AMPERAGE (CURRENT). There are many other examples like high voltage transmission line helicopter enabled maintenance at EXTREME kilovolts. Youtube it. The "throw a stick at fence test" would NOT have worked because unless the stick was soaked AND touched ground/completed circut, there was no way for current to flow. FYI... WOOD IS AN INSULATOR!!!!!! Not the best, but it is... Water on/in wood is what conducts. Timmy being thrown like he was is FALSE. If you refuse to accept THAT, find videos of real EVENTS at your own risk. I do not recommend seeing them, but I have seen them for training purposes. If the fence was DC, it would cause his muscles to contract and "death grip" the wires (again, If he was grounded or completing a circuit only). We don't know if the movie fence was constant or pulsed DC. If it was setup like a cattle fence charger it would be capacitively pulsed DC, giving the dinosaur a chance to withdraw from the fence. Think of a TENS muscle exercise/therapy machine. AC however causes your muscles to contract and relax at the frequency (or twice the frequency, can't remember) of the generator/line (ie 60hz, 50hz). This happens too fast to be able to release yourself requiring a kick or someone disconnecting you. To conclude, this is a Science FICTION Hollywood movie. The flash and drama was for those who don't know. Timmy would NOT have been shocked until he touched the ground or touched something else touching GROUND. As the fence charged, he MAY have felt a charge build on him like static buildup because of tiny current flow through humid air of tropics to ground. He could have easily jumped off the fence to ground and been fine as long as he did not touch both at once. The arcing the movie "showed" WOULD have given Timmy serious first degree burns and possibly blown fingers OFF his hands, or blown his hands off. Also after a "shock" like that and cpr he would not be saying "three" FLMAO The scene is entertaining but factually WRONG. PS YouTube TESLA COILS with MILLIONS of NON-FATAL VOLTS!
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes

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