To cook the cat

malibueinstein:

What happens when you touch a battery?

• Nothing, unless it is a 9V battery and you touch the positive and negative end at the same time.  In that case, however, you’re just touching it with the thin dry skin on your finger (a crappy conductor as it has a resistance of about 100,000 ohms) so you won’t even register the current moving through you.

What happens when you lick a 9V battery?

• Your tongue has a much lower resistance than your skin, so the current would be stronger and you would register a small sensation on your tongue.

Why would you lick a 9V battery?

• C’mon man, live a little!

Could a 9V battery ever be lethal?

• You bet.  The resistance of thicker skin is pretty low, the resistance of wet thick skin is lower, and the resistance of your body underneath your skin is lower still (about 300-1,000 ohms.)  If you were to connect wires to a 9V battery, and then stab yourself with those wires, the current entering your body could be high enough to cause a heart attack.  Please never try this.

Want more info?  See where I got my numbers and check out some skin resistance facts here