What Would Happen If You Stuck A Knife Into An Electrical Socket?

​​This is What Would Happen If, a close examination of mundane hypothetical situations. Each week, we look at something that you could do but probably never would, and take it to its logical endpoint. This week: What would happen if you stuck something into a live outlet?

We like to have fun here on What Would Happen If — pontificating about the consequences of fun things like not paying bills or leaving your contacts in​. But before we jump into today's hypothetical let us just unequivocally say: Please do not, ever, stick something into an electrical outlet. Not even as a joke. You could die. And not in a supreme-edge-case-man-that's-crazy kind of a way. Your standard 120 V household outlet has the power to stop your heart.

With that out of the way — man, what would happen if you just, like, took a fork or knife or some kind of pointed metal object and just jabbed it into a socket? To help answer this, well, obvious question, we spoke with Brett Brenner, president of Electrical Safety Foundation International. 

You might get shocked, or you might not. It all depends on the type of outlet you're fixing to tamper with. Under the National Electric Code — the guidelines that determine the standards for electrical systems here in the US — there are six types of electrical outlets (seven if you include USB). When it comes it sticking something in an outlet that you shouldn't be, there are three main outlets you should concern yourself with: The tamper resistant receptacle, the ground fault circuit interrupter receptacle and the two-pronged/grounded receptacle.

Introduced in 2008, the tamper resistant receptacle is the latest, and possibly most foolproof outlet. "It's basically a built-in shutter system," says Brenner. "You have to apply equal pressure to both the openings for it to open up and engage." Trying to stick something into an TRR would just leave you jabbing at a piece of plastic — ultimately saving you from yourself.

The ground fault circuit interrupter is something you're probably more familiar with. You have one in your bathroom, kitchen, garage or anything that's outside your house or within six feet of water. If you happen to stick something in a GFCI it will, as the name implies, detect the ground fault and shut off the electricity. ""Think of it like a circle," says Brenner. "If anything interrupts that, it'll cut the power off."

When it comes to the two-pronged/grounded receptacles, well, that's where the shocking stuff happens. It's also the most likely scenario. "Most homes, about half, were built before the '70s," says Brenner. "So unless you have a major remodel you're probably dealing with one or two outdated outlets in each room."

For one reason or another, people tend to associate electrical hazard with volts. They see a sign that reads "10,000 volts" or somesuch and think "Wow, that's some serious stuff." Which: Yes. But it's also slightly misleading, because your 120 volt home outlet is more than capable of killing you. This is because the thing that determines how severe an electrical shock is isn't the voltage, but rather the current, which is measured in amps.

At 1 milliamp, you might feel a tingling sensation. As you approach 10 milliamps you'll probably feel what most people would consider a shock. Once you go past 10 milliamps, the electrical shock is so strong that your muscles will seize up, likely rendering you unable to release your grip on whatever it is you just stuck into the outlet. Once you hit 20 milliamps, you'll find it hard to breathe, and at 75 milliamps you might risk stopping your breathing altogether. At 100 milliamps, the current will mess with your heartbeat — potentially causing ventricular fibrillation and your untimely death due to cardiac arrest. You should know that your standard household outlet carries some 15 to 20 amps of current — more than enough to make any of the above happen.

That said, how much current enters your body depends on a whole host of variables — what you've stuck in the outlet, what you're wearing, how sweaty you are, whether your standing in a puddle or not, and so on. You could experience a small shock, or you could die.

And even if you do get away with a small jolt, you still might be at risk for heart problems. In an interview with the University of Utah, physician Dr. Troy Madsen advises that those who experience electrical shock should get checked out at a local ER, since a big enough shock could cause an irregular heartbeat or complicate any existing heart conditions.

So yeah, electrical outlets. Don't stick stuff in them. And if you have children, don't rely on those plastic caps to keep them from doing the same. "Most people think that the childproof caps that came out maybe 20 years ago would solve the problem," says Brenner. "They can be easily removed, they can be swallowed, you have to remember to put them back in. It's anything but a foolproof system."