When Ketaki was about to switch on the fan in her room, her mother stopped her from doing so. She told her that she should first dry her hands as they were wet, before touching the electric switch. Was Ketaki's mother right or not?
(a) Yes. The water can damage the fan.
(b) Yes. Water is a good conductor of electricity. She could get a severe shock.
(c) No. While using electric appliances and switches, wet or dry does not make any difference.
(d) No. Water is a poor conductor of electricity, hence it is safe to switch on the fan using wet hands.

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Solution

(b) Yes. Water is a good conductor of electricity. She could get a shock.

Ketaki's mother was right. Ketaki should not switch on the fan with wet hands because water is a good conductor of electricity and current can flow from the switch to Ketaki's hand. This current could give her a severe shock.

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Similar questions

Q. If a person washes his hand and switches on the electric fan with wet hands. What might happen to him?

Q. If you take tap water and pass electricity then tap water will conduct electricity but why we were all told not to turn on/off the switches with wet hands.
Statement 1: Tap water contains ions and is good conductor of electricity.
Statement 2: Distilled water and urea does not contain ions.

Study says that water is a poor conductor of heat if so then why do they say that we shouldn't touch electric appliances with wet hands?

Q. We should not repair electric switches and appliances connected to main supply with wet hands because

Q) Why should you not touch electrical appliances with wet hands?

A) This is because when we wash our hands with tap water which contains a lot of salt and ions this gets transmitted to our hands . When we touch the electrical appliances with wet hands ,the electric current passes from the appliance till our hands due to which we may get electric shock.

Could you please check my answer. Do give your inputs.

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(b) Yes. Water is a good conductor of electricity. She could get a shock.Ketaki's mother was right. Ketaki should not switch on the fan with wet hands because water is a good conductor of electricity and current can flow from the switch to Ketaki's hand. This current could give her a severe shock.