On Jan 27, 11:53*am, wrote:
Most people know that dropping a cord or appliance that is plugged into
an outlet into a bathtub filled with water will electrocute the person
in the tub.

That's how it works in the movies. In reality, to be
electrocuted the person in the tub would have to be
in the path of enough of the current to kill them. That
depends on many factors. At one extreme, if the
appliance went into one end of the tub near a ground
source like perhaps the drain, while the person was
standing in the other end, not touching anything else, it's unlikely
they would be electrocuted.

On the other hand, if you're holding a grounded faucet
with one hand and trying to pick up the appliance that fell
in the tub with
the other, that's a lot more likely to produce a bad result.

As for a cap, since the current path would be from one
terminal to the other, it's unlikely enough current would
make it through anyone's body in the tub. Unless they
were grabbing the cap....